Energentic Intelligence: From Self-Sustaining Systems to Enduring Artificial Life

Atahan Karagoz

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arXiv · 2506.04916

Energentic Intelligence: From Self-Sustaining Systems to Enduring Artificial Life

Atahan Karagoz

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Abstract

This paper introduces Energentic Intelligence, a class of autonomous systems defined not by task performance, but by their capacity to sustain themselves through internal energy regulation. Departing from conventional reward-driven paradigms, these agents treat survival-maintaining functional operation under fluctuating energetic and thermal conditions-as the central objective. We formalize this principle through an energy-based utility function and a viability-constrained survival horizon, and propose a modular architecture that integrates energy harvesting, thermal regulation, and adaptive computation into a closed-loop control system. A simulated environment demonstrates the emergence of stable, resource-aware behavior without external supervision. Together, these contributions provide a theoretical and architectural foundation for deploying autonomous agents in resource-volatile settings where persistence must be self-regulated and infrastructure cannot be assumed.

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Atahan Karagoz. 2025-06-05. Energentic Intelligence: From Self-Sustaining Systems to Enduring Artificial Life. https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.04916

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