Note: There is a minor sound issue in the first 2 minutes (the intro) of this episode which will be rectified shortly. On this episode of the What ALife! Podcast, I am joined by Manuel Balteiri, chief researcher at Araya Inc. (araya.org/en/). Manuel's current research focuses on theories of "agency". How do we define an agent in both physical and artificial systems? What are the boundaries of an agent and the environment? What are the prerequisites or properties that we could look for to identify the presence of an agentic system? These are the sorts of questions we dive into on this episode. Manuel also shares with us his interesting career journey, from his undergrad to his PhD and beyond, leading up to his current work looking at these sorts of questions. 00:00 Episode Intro 02:14 Manuel Intro & Career Trajectory 31:14 Defining an Agent 37:30 Understanding Agency and Boundaries 45:32 Preserving Boundaries and Adaptivity 53:29 The Importance of Goals in Agency 01:02:46 The Illusion of Agency 01:12:46 The Balance Between External and Intrinsic Properties of Agency 01:17:47 The Practical Applications of Agency Links from this episode: Contribute to the ALife Newsletter ⁠Subscribe to the ALife Newsletter⁠ ⁠Emerging Researchers in ALife Discord⁠ Manuel: Website⁠ | Twitter | BlueSky Follow Imy: Twitter: ⁠twitter.com/imy_tk ⁠Get in touch! ⁠podcast@imytk.co.uk⁠ Artwork credit: ⁠Gabriel J. Severino