Dr Chloe M Barnes is a Lecturer in Computer Science at Aston University. She is also a member of the Artificial Life and Intelligent Collectives Engineering research lab.

Chloe received her PhD in Computer Science in 2021 from Aston University, UK, studying the consequences of unintended interactions that arise in shared environments. Her research interests are inspired by the fields of human psychology and sociology, and are directed towards that of Artificial Life, computational self-awareness, neuroevolution, and interference within multi-agent systems.

My interests lie in the broad areas of Computational Intelligence, Artificial Life, and Agent-Based Systems. I am interested in exploring how individuals behave in collective environments -- specifically when the actions of others are unknown. My research involves using theory from other disciplines such as neuroscience, psychology and sociology to design artificial systems that can behave in a manner that is socially-acceptable for their current environment, for the benefit of themselves and the collective.

CS1OOP -- Object-Oriented Programming with Java (UG)

CS2TP -- Team Project (UG)

CS3CI -- Computational Intelligence (UG)

CS4870 -- Team Project (PG)

Doctoral Symposium Co-Chair: The 4th IEEE International Conference on Autonomic Computing and Self-Organizing Systems (ACSOS), 2023.

Virtual Environment Co-Chair: The 3rd IEEE International Conference on Autonomic Computing and Self-Organizing Systems (ACSOS), 2022.

Volunteer and Social Experience Chair: The 2nd IEEE International Conference on Autonomic Computing and Self-Organizing Systems (ACSOS), 2021.

Volunteer Chair: The 1st IEEE International Conference on Autonomic Computing and Self-Organizing Systems (ACSOS), 2020.

Volunteer and Minecraft Chair: The Artificial Life (ALIFE) Conference, 2020.

Plastic Behaviour for Social Interaction in Agent-Based Systems

Artificial systems no longer exist in isolation, meaning the actions of one can have adverse effects on others. Exploring how these types of systems can take more socially-acceptable actions could enable systems in areas such as economics, traffic management, and smart cities to align actions with societal goals – not just their own. Inspired by artificial intelligence, neuroscience and biology, this project aims to explore how behavioural plasticity – like seen in natural beings – affects how artificial systems overcome environmental dynamicity for the benefit of themselves and those around them.

The objectives of this multidisciplinary project are therefore to: 
a)    Model and gain understanding of the types of interactions that can take place between artificial systems in shared environments, using agent-based systems, 

b)    Develop novel methods of employing behavioural plasticity in artificial agents 

c)    Develop methods to evaluate how plasticity affects agent interaction and goal-achievement, for individuals and society.