Contents
Current Affiliations
Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences Information Theory of Cognitive Systems Inselstrasse 22 04103 Leipzig Germany My MPI MIS Homepage |
Professional Career
2008 - Present | Senior Post-Doc | Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences My MIS Homepage |
05/17 - 10/17 | Resident Post-Doctoral Fellow | Santa Fe Institute My SFI Homepage |
Summer Semester 2016 | Lecturer | University of Leipzig Lecture on Robotics Seminar on Morphological Computation |
2007 - 2008 | PhD Student | Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences |
2002- 2007 | PhD Student Project manager | Fraunhofer Institute For Autonomous Intelligent Systems |
2001 - 2002 | PhD Student Software Engineer | Robotwatch Technologies |
Education
2008 | Dr. rer. nat Neuro-Informatics "Self-regulating Neurones: A Model for Synaptic Plasticity in Artificial Neural Networks" | University of Osnabrück |
2001 | Master (Diplom) Computer Science "Analysis and Visualisation of Social Networks" | University of Tübingen |
Short Bio
In recent years, it has become evident that a general theory of intelligence requires a better understanding of the interplay of brain, body, and environment. Biology provides us with numerous examples of functions that are normally attributed to the brain but result, at least partially, from the interactions of the body with the environment. Two examples are the insect’s eyes and the human hand. The receptive fields of many insect’s eyes are laid out in such a way that they significantly reduce the burden for the brain to detect motion. The softness of the human hand and the friction of its skin allow us to grab fragile objects without the need to precisely control the position of each finger. In both examples, computation is, in one way or another, outsourced from the brain to the morphology. This has led to the notion of Morphological Computation.
Morphological computation seems to be a fundamental principle in biology. Unfortunately, there is no theory that accounts for the different kinds of morphological contributions to intelligence. Finding such a theory is what drives my research. I have come to the conclusion that Morphological Computation is a misleading term, as it implies that the morphology is computing, which is not the case. I propose the notion of Morphological Intelligence, as it describes the morphological contribution to intelligence. In particular, I work on quantifications of morphological intelligence. An important question in this context is the following: is it possible to record a behaviour and calculate from observations alone, how much of the behaviour is actively controlled by the brain and how much of it results from morphological intelligence? I am currently applying preliminary results of my theory to quantify the naturalness of human motion. This will be used to support the visual diagnostics of patients with neurodegenerative diseases. My research is currently also applied in the context of biomechanics to measure the contribution of muscles to various human motions.
I am currently is a senior researcher at the Information Theory of Cognitive Systems Group at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences. I held a post-doc position at the Santa Fe Insitute and was a lecturer at the University of Leipzig. I conducted my PhD project at the Fraunhofer Institute for Autonomous Intelligent Systems and earned my degree in Neuro-Informatics from the University of Osnabrück. I received my Diploma in Computer Science from the University of Tübingen.
Reearch Intrests
My research intrests include:
[accordions id=”809″]
Publications
- K. Ghazi-Zahedi, “Nmode – neuro-module evolution,” arxiv, arXiv:1701.05121, 2017.
[Bibtex]@techreport{Ghazi-Zahedi2017aNMODE, Author = {Keyan Ghazi-Zahedi}, Institution = {arxiv}, Number = {arXiv:1701.05121}, Pdf = {https://arxiv.org/abs/1701.05121}, Title = {NMODE -- Neuro-MODule Evolution}, Year = {2017}}
- K. Ghazi-Zahedi, R. Deimel, G. Montúfar, V. Wall, and O. Brock, “Morphological computation: the good, the bad, and the ugly,” in Iros 2017, 2017.
[Bibtex]@inproceedings{Ghazi-Zahedi2017aMorphological, Author = {Ghazi-Zahedi, Keyan and Deimel, Raphael and Mont{\'u}far, Guido and Wall, Vincent and Brock, Oliver}, Booktitle = {IROS 2017}, PDF = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8202194/}, Title = {Morphological Computation: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly}, Year = {2017}}
- K. Ghazi-Zahedi, C. Langer, and N. Ay, “Morphological computation: synergy of body and brain,” Entropy, vol. 19, iss. 9, 2017.
[Bibtex]@article{Ghazi-Zahedi2017bMorphological, Abstract = {There are numerous examples that show how the exploitation of the body's physical properties can lift the burden of the brain. Examples include grasping, swimming, locomotion, and motion detection. The term Morphological Computation was originally coined to describe processes in the body that would otherwise have to be conducted by the brain. In this paper, we argue for a synergistic perspective, and by that we mean that Morphological Computation is a process which requires a close interaction of body and brain. Based on a model of the sensorimotor loop, we study a new measure of synergistic information and show that it is more reliable in cases in which there is no synergistic information, compared to previous results. Furthermore, we discuss an algorithm that allows the calculation of the measure in non-trivial (non-binary) systems.}, Article = {456}, Author = {Ghazi-Zahedi, Keyan and Langer, Carlotta and Ay, Nihat}, Doi = {10.3390/e19090456}, Issn = {1099-4300}, Journal = {Entropy}, Number = {9}, Pdf = {http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/19/9/456/pdf}, Title = {Morphological Computation: Synergy of Body and Brain}, Url = {http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/19/9/456}, Volume = {19}, Year = {2017}, Bdsk-Url-1 = {http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/19/9/456}, Bdsk-Url-2 = {https://doi.org/10.3390/e19090456}}
- K. Ghazi-Zahedi, D. F. B. Haeufle, G. F. Montufar, S. Schmitt, and N. Ay, “Evaluating morphological computation in muscle and dc-motor driven models of hopping movements,” Frontiers in robotics and ai, vol. 3, iss. 42, 2016.
[Bibtex]@article{Ghazi-Zahedi2016aEvaluating, Author = {Ghazi-Zahedi, Keyan and Haeufle, Daniel F.B. and Montufar, Guido Francisco and Schmitt, Syn and Ay, Nihat}, Issn = {2296-9144}, Journal = {Frontiers in Robotics and AI}, Number = {42}, Pdf = {http://www.frontiersin.org/computational_intelligence/10.3389/frobt.2016.00042/abstract}, Title = {Evaluating Morphological Computation in Muscle and DC-motor Driven Models of Hopping Movements}, Volume = {3}, Year = {2016}}
- G. Montúfar, K. Ghazi-Zahedi, and N. Ay, “A theory of cheap control in embodied systems,” Plos comput biol, vol. 11, iss. 9, p. e1004427, 2015.
[Bibtex]@article{Montufar2015aA-Theory, Author = {Mont{\'u}far, Guido AND Ghazi-Zahedi, Keyan AND Ay, Nihat}, Journal = {PLoS Comput Biol}, Month = {09}, Number = {9}, Pages = {e1004427}, Pdf = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pcbi.1004427}, Publisher = {Public Library of Science}, Title = {A Theory of Cheap Control in Embodied Systems}, Volume = {11}, Year = {2015}}
- K. Ghazi-Zahedi and J. Rauh, “Quantifying morphological computation based on an information decomposition of the sensorimotor loop,” in Proceedings of the 13th european conference on artificial life (ecal 2015), 2015, p. 70–-77.
[Bibtex]@inproceedings{Ghazi-Zahedi2015bQuantifying, Author = {Ghazi-Zahedi, Keyan and Rauh, Johannes}, Booktitle = {Proceedings of the 13th European Conference on Artificial Life (ECAL 2015)}, Date-Modified = {2018-05-26 22:52:07 +0000}, Month = {July}, Pages = {70---77}, Pdf = {http://keyan.ghazi-zahedi.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Ghazi-Zahedi2015aQuantifying-Morphological-Computation.pdf}, Read = {1}, Title = {Quantifying Morphological Computation based on an Information Decomposition of the Sensorimotor Loop}, Year = {2015}}
- G. Montufar, N. Ay, and K. Ghazi-Zahedi, “A framework for cheap universal approximation in embodied systems,” Corr, vol. abs/1407.6836, 2014.
[Bibtex]@article{Montufar2014aA-Framework, Author = {Guido Montufar and Nihat Ay and Keyan Ghazi-Zahedi}, Bibsource = {dblp computer science bibliography, http://dblp.org}, Biburl = {http://dblp.uni-trier.de/rec/bib/journals/corr/MontufarAG14}, Journal = {CoRR}, Pdf = {http://arxiv.org/abs/1407.6836}, Title = {A Framework for Cheap Universal Approximation in Embodied Systems}, Volume = {abs/1407.6836}, Year = {2014}}
- N. Ay and K. Zahedi, “On the causal structure of the sensorimotor loop,” in Guided self-organization: inception, M. Prokopenko, Ed., Springer, 2014, vol. 9.
[Bibtex]@incollection{Ay2014aOn-the-causal, Author = {Ay, Nihat and Zahedi, Keyan}, Booktitle = {Guided Self-Organization: Inception}, Editor = {Prokopenko, Mikhail}, Pdf = {http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-53734-9_9}, Publisher = {Springer}, Series = {Emergence, Complexity and Computation}, Title = {On the causal structure of the sensorimotor loop}, Volume = {9}, Year = {2014}}
- G. Montufar, N. Ay, and K. Zahedi, “Expressive power of conditional restricted boltzmann machines for sensorimotor control,” Corr, vol. abs/1402.3346, 2014.
[Bibtex]@article{DBLP:journals/corr/MontufarAZ14, Author = {Guido Montufar and Nihat Ay and Keyan Zahedi}, Bibsource = {dblp computer science bibliography, http://dblp.org}, Biburl = {http://dblp.uni-trier.de/rec/bib/journals/corr/MontufarAZ14}, Journal = {CoRR}, Pdf = {http://arxiv.org/abs/1402.3346}, Title = {Expressive Power of Conditional Restricted Boltzmann Machines for Sensorimotor Control}, Volume = {abs/1402.3346}, Year = {2014}}
- K. Zahedi and N. Ay, “Quantifying morphological computation,” Entropy, vol. 15, iss. 5, p. 1887–1915, 2013.
[Bibtex]@article{Zahedi2013aQuantifying, Author = {Zahedi, Keyan and Ay, Nihat}, Issn = {1099-4300}, Journal = {Entropy}, Number = {5}, Pages = {1887--1915}, Pdf = {http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/15/5/1887}, Title = {Quantifying Morphological Computation}, Volume = {15}, Year = {2013}}
- N. Ay and K. Zahedi, “Causal effects for prediction and deliberative decision making of embodied systems,” in Advances in cognitive neurodynamics (iii), Y. Yamaguchi, Ed., Springer netherlands, 2013, pp. 499-506.
[Bibtex]@incollection{Ay2013aCausal, Author = {Ay, Nihat and Zahedi, Keyan}, Booktitle = {Advances in Cognitive Neurodynamics (III)}, Editor = {Yamaguchi, Yoko}, Isbn = {978-94-007-4791-3}, Language = {English}, Pages = {499-506}, Pdf = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4792-0_67}, Publisher = {Springer Netherlands}, Title = {Causal Effects for Prediction and Deliberative Decision Making of Embodied Systems}, Year = {2013}}
- K. Zahedi, G. Martius, and N. Ay, “Linear combination of one-step predictive information with an external reward in an episodic policy gradient setting: a critical analysis,” Frontiers in psychology, vol. 4, iss. 801, 2013.
[Bibtex]@article{Zahedi2013aLinear, Author = {Zahedi, Keyan and Martius, Georg and Ay, Nihat}, Issn = {1664-1078}, Journal = {Frontiers in Psychology}, Number = {801}, Pdf = {http://www.frontiersin.org/cognitive_science/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00801/abstract}, Title = {Linear combination of one-step predictive information with an external reward in an episodic policy gradient setting: a critical analysis}, Volume = {4}, Year = {2013}}
- N. Ay and K. Zahedi, “An information theoretic approach to intention and deliberative decision-making of embodied systems,” in Advances in cognitive neurodynamics iii, Heidelberg: Springer, 2013.
[Bibtex]@incollection{Ay2013aAn-Information, Address = {Heidelberg}, Author = {Ay, Nihat and Zahedi, Keyan}, Booktitle = {Advances in cognitive neurodynamics III}, Pdf = {MIS Preprint 2011/22 http://www.mis.mpg.de/preprints/2011/preprint2011_22.pdf}, Publisher = {Springer}, Title = {An Information Theoretic Approach to Intention and Deliberative Decision-Making of Embodied Systems}, Year = {2013}}
- K. Zahedi, N. Ay, and R. Der, “Higher coordination with less control – a result of information maximization in the sensori-motor loop,” Adaptive behavior, vol. 18, iss. 3–4, p. 338–355, 2010.
[Bibtex]@article{Zahedi2010aHigher, Author = {Zahedi, Keyan and Ay, Nihat and Der, Ralf}, Eprint = {http://adb.sagepub.com/content/18/3-4/338.full.pdf+html}, Journal = {Adaptive Behavior}, Number = {3--4}, Pages = {338--355}, Pdf = {http://adb.sagepub.com/content/18/3-4/338.abstract}, Title = {Higher coordination with less control -- A result of information maximization in the sensori-motor loop}, Url = {http://adb.sagepub.com/content/18/3-4/338.full.pdf+html}, Volume = {18}, Year = {2010}, Bdsk-Url-1 = {http://adb.sagepub.com/content/18/3-4/338.full.pdf+html}}
- K. M. Ghazi-Zahedi, “Self-regulating neurons. a model for synaptic plasticity in artificial recurrent neural networks,” PhD Thesis, 2009.
[Bibtex]@phdthesis{Ghazi-Zahedi2009aSelf-Regulating, Author = {Ghazi-Zahedi, Keyan Mahmoud}, Pdf = {https://repositorium.ub.uni-osnabrueck.de/handle/urn:nbn:de:gbv:700-2009020616}, School = {Univeristy of Osnabr{\"u}ck}, Title = {Self-Regulating Neurons. A model for synaptic plasticity in artificial recurrent neural networks}, Year = {2009}}
- K. Zahedi, A. von Twickel, and F. Pasemann, “Yars: a physical 3d simulator for evolving controllers for real robots,” in Simpar 2008, 2008, p. 71–-82.
[Bibtex]@inproceedings{Zahedi2008aYARS:, Author = {Zahedi, Keyan and von Twickel, Arndt and Pasemann, Frank}, Booktitle = {SIMPAR 2008}, Editor = {Stefano Carpin and Itsuki Noda and Enrico Pagello and Monica Reggiani and Oskar von Stryk}, Pages = {71---82}, Pdf = {http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-540-89076-8_11}, Publisher = {Springer}, Series = {LNAI 5325}, Title = {YARS: A Physical 3D Simulator for Evolving Controllers for Real Robots}, Year = {2008}}
- K. Zahedi and F. Pasemann, “Adaptive behavior control with self-regulating neurons,” in 50 years of artificial intelligence, M. Lungarella, F. Iida, J. Bongard, and R. Pfeifer, Eds., Berlin Heidelberg: Springer, 2007, p. 196–205.
[Bibtex]@incollection{Zahedi2007aAdaptive, Address = {Berlin Heidelberg}, Author = {Zahedi, Keyan and Pasemann, Frank}, Booktitle = {50 Years of Artificial Intelligence}, Editor = {Lungarella, M. and Iida, F. and Bongard, J. and Pfeifer, R.}, Pages = {196--205}, Pdf = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-77296-5_19}, Publisher = {Springer}, Series = {Festschrift, LNAI 4850}, Title = {Adaptive Behavior Control with Self-regulating Neurons}, Type = {Chapter}, Year = {2007}}
- I. Markelić and K. Zahedi, “An evolved neural network for fast quadrupedal locomotion,” in Advances in climbing and walking robots, proceedings of 10th international conference (CLAWAR 2007), 2007, p. 65–72.
[Bibtex]@inproceedings{Markelic2007aAn-Evolved, Author = {Markeli{\'c}, Irene and Zahedi, Keyan}, Booktitle = {Advances in Climbing and Walking Robots, Proceedings of 10th International Conference {(CLAWAR 2007)}}, Editor = {Xie, Ming and Dubowsky, Steven}, Note = {Singapore 16-18 July 2007}, Pages = {65--72}, Pdf = {http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/9789812770189_0009}, Publisher = {World Scientific Publishing Company}, Title = {An Evolved Neural Network for Fast Quadrupedal Locomotion}, Year = {2007}}
- K. Zahedi, M. Hülse, and F. Pasemann, “Evolution nicht-linearer Kontroller fuer mobile Roboter in dynamischen Umgebungen,” Atp – automatisierungstechnische praxis, vol. 10, p. 94–100, 2004.
[Bibtex]@article{Zahedi2004aEvolution, Author = {Zahedi, Keyan and H{\"u}lse, Martin and Pasemann, Frank}, Journal = {atp - automatisierungstechnische praxis}, Pages = {94--100}, Read = {Yes}, Timestamp = {2005.11.24}, Title = {{E}volution nicht-linearer {K}ontroller fuer mobile {R}oboter in dynamischen {U}mgebungen}, Volume = {10}, Year = {2004}}
- B. Klaassen, K. Zahedi, and F. Pasemann, “A modular approach to construction and control of walking robots,” in Robotik 2004, 2004, p. 633–640.
[Bibtex]@inproceedings{Klaassen2004aA-Modular, Author = {Klaassen, Bernhard and Zahedi, Keyan and Pasemann, Frank}, Booktitle = {Robotik 2004}, Pages = {633--640}, Pdf = {https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236165271_A_Modular_Approach_to_Construction_and_Control_of_Walking_Robots}, Series = {VDI-Berichte 1841}, Title = {A Modular Approach to Construction and Control of Walking Robots}, Year = {2004}}
- K. Zahedi, M. Hülse, and F. Pasemann, “Evolving neurocontrollers in the robocup domain,” in Robotik 2004, 2004, p. 63–70.
[Bibtex]@inproceedings{Zahedi2004aEvolving, Author = {Zahedi, Keyan and H{\"u}lse, Martin and Pasemann, Frank}, Booktitle = {Robotik 2004}, Pages = {63--70}, Pdf = {https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236165268_Evolving_Neurocontrollers_in_the_RoboCup_Domain}, Series = {VDI-Berichte 1841}, Title = {Evolving Neurocontrollers in the RoboCup Domain}, Year = {2004}}
- F. Pasemann, M. Hild, and K. Zahedi, “So(2)-networks as neural oscillators,” in Computational methods in neural modeling, proceedings iwann 2003, Berlin, 2003, p. 144–151.
[Bibtex]@inproceedings{Pasemann2003aSO2-Networks, Address = {Berlin}, Author = {Pasemann, Frank and Hild, Manfred and Zahedi, Keyan}, Booktitle = {Computational Methods in Neural Modeling, Proceedings IWANN 2003}, Editor = {Mira, J. and Alvarez, JR}, Pages = {144--151}, Pdf = {http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F3-540-44868-3_19}, Publisher = {Springer}, Series = {LNCS 2686}, Title = {SO(2)-Networks as Neural Oscillators}, Year = {2003}}
- F. Pasemann, M. Hülse, and K. Zahedi, “Evolved neurodynamics for robot control,” in European symposium on artificial neural networks, 2003, p. 439–444.
[Bibtex]@inproceedings{Pasemann2003aEvolved, Author = {Pasemann, Frank and H{\"u}lse, Martin and Zahedi, Keyan}, Booktitle = {European Symposium on Artificial Neural Networks}, Editor = {Verleysen, M.}, Pages = {439--444}, Pdf = {https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Keyan_Ghazi-Zahedi/publication/221165483_Evolved_Neurodynamics_for_Robot_Control/links/0912f50ab52b299a1a000000.pdf}, Publisher = {D-side publications}, Title = {Evolved Neurodynamics for Robot Control}, Year = {2003}}
- M. Hülse, K. Zahedi, and F. Pasemann, “Representing robot-environment interactions by dynamical features of neuro-controllers,” in Anticipatory behavior in adaptive learning systems, M. v. Butz, O. Sigaud, and P. Gérard, Eds., Springer, 2003, p. 222–242.
[Bibtex]@incollection{Hulse2003aRepresenting, Author = {H{\"u}lse, Martin and Zahedi, Keyan and Pasemann, Frank}, Booktitle = {Anticipatory Behavior in Adaptive Learning Systems}, Editor = {Butz, M.v and Sigaud, O. and G{\'e}rard, P.}, Pages = {222--242}, Pdf = {http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-540-45002-3_13}, Publisher = {Springer}, Series = {LNAI 2684}, Title = {Representing Robot-Environment Interactions by Dynamical Features of Neuro-Controllers}, Year = {2003}}
- R. Breithaupt, J. Dahnke, K. Zahedi, J. Hertzberg, and F. Pasemann, “Robo-salamander – an approach for the benefit of both robotics and biology,,” in 5th international conference on climbing and walking robots, 2002, pp. 55-62.
[Bibtex]@inproceedings{Breithaupt2002aRobo-Salamander, Author = {Breithaupt, Ralph and Dahnke, Jochen and Zahedi, Keyan and Hertzberg, Joachim and Pasemann, Frank}, Booktitle = {5th international Conference on Climbing and Walking Robots}, Pages = {55-62}, Title = {Robo-Salamander - an approach for the benefit of both robotics and biology,}, Year = {2002}}
- K. M. Ghazi-Zahedi, “Analysis and visualistion of social networks,” Diplom Thesis Master Thesis, 2001.
[Bibtex]@mastersthesis{Ghazi-Zahedi2001aAnalysis, Author = {Ghazi-Zahedi, Keyan Mahmoud}, Pdf = {https://repositorium.ub.uni-osnabrueck.de/handle/urn:nbn:de:gbv:700-2009020616}, School = {Universitiy of T{\"u}bingen}, Title = {Analysis and Visualistion of Social Networks}, Type = {Diplom Thesis}, Year = {2001}}
Organised Workshops
Working Group on Morphological Computation
Santa Fe Institute
September 12th, 2017 – September 14th, 2017
Special Session on Quantifying Embodiment
13th European Conference on Artificial Life (ECAL 2015), York Centre for Complex Systems Analysis at the University of York, 20th – 24th of July, 2015.
Information Theory in Artificial Life
Satellite Workshop of the 13th European Conference on Artificial Life (ECAL 2015), York Centre for Complex Systems Analysis at the The University of York, 20th of July, 2015.
Information Theoretic Incentives for Artificial Life
Satellite Workshop of the 14th International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems (ALife 2014), Javits Center, New York, 30. of July
Conceptual and Mathematical Foundations of Embodied Intelligence
MPI MIS, Leipzig, March, 2013
Program Committee Member
2017 IEEE Symposium on Artificial Life (IEEE ALIFE’17),
27 Nov to 1 Dec, 2017 Hawaii, USA
ECAL 2017,
4 – 8 September 2017, Lyon, France
ALIFE XV,
July 4-8 2016, Cancun, Mexico.
ECAL 2015,
20th – 24th of July, 2015, York, UK, (Special Session on Quantifying Embodiment).
Special Issues / Guest Editor
Special issue on Information Theoretic Incentives for Cognitive Systems in Entropy.
Review Editor
Frontiers in Robotics and AI, Computational Intelligence section