automeres

Automere is a term used in discussions of modular design for autonomous and evolving systems. An automere is defined as the smallest deployable unit that encodes a complete, self-contained function or behavior and can be combined with other automeres to form more complex systems. Automeres are designed to be interoperable, with defined interfaces that allow recombination, replication, or exchange between agents or software modules.

The word combines auto- (self) with meros (part) from Greek, reflecting the idea of a self-contained part that can contribute to an organism or agent’s phenotype. In practice, automeres are treated as modular building blocks that can be transferred, mutated, and reorganized to yield new capabilities, much like genes in biology or modules in software.

An automere typically includes an interface specification, a minimal execution model, and a state or memory component. It can be transferred between agents, subjected to mutation, and recombined with other automeres to produce new behaviors or functions. In digital systems, automeres may appear as code blocks, state machines, or modular circuits; in bio-inspired designs they can correspond to gene circuits or metabolic modules. The concept is also used in artificial life and synthetic biology to discuss how complex behaviors emerge from combinations of simpler parts.

Applications and implications include supporting evolvability in evolutionary computation, digital evolution, swarm robotics, and programmable materials. By enabling modular inheritance and recombination, automeres can accelerate prototyping and adaptation. However, the term is not yet widely standardized, and definitions vary across disciplines. Critics note interoperability challenges and overlap with established ideas such as modules, genes, or memes. In niche literatures, automere remains a useful metaphor for modularity and composability in complex systems.