Publications

2026

• Compositional Behavioral Semantics for State Abstraction in Reinforcement Learning

  Selected

  Zhang, Y., Luo, Z., & Baltieri, M.

  International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) · Conference paper

  Publisher PDF Preprint

• World models of environment, agent and joint agent-environment systems

  Selected

  Baltieri, M., Torresan, F., Zhang, Y., Boyd, A., & Rosas, F. E.

  arXiv:2608.20401 · Preprint

  Preprint

• Bayesian updates from coalgebraic determinisation

  Selected

  Baltieri, M., & Virgo, N.

  arXiv:2607.00034 · Preprint

  Preprint

• Mathematical approaches to the study of agents

  Selected

  Baltieri, M., & Suzuki, K.

  Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B · Journal article, to appear

  Preprint

• A Braitenberg vehicle’s habitat

  Baltieri, M., Rosas, F. E., & Torresan, F.

  Artificial Life Conference (ALIFE) · Conference paper

  Publisher Preprint

• The Universal Property of Possibilistic Belief Updating

  Virgo, N., Capucci, M., Baltieri, M., & Biehl, M.

  Applied Category Theory Conference (ACT) · Talk proposal

  PDF

• Prior preferences in active inference agents: soft, hard, and goal shaping

  Torresan, F., Kanai, R. & Baltieri, M.

  Neural Computation · Journal article, accepted

  Preprint

• The Stream of Computation: Temporal Continuity as a Missing Ingredient for Artificial Consciousness

  Kanai, R., Sun, Y., & Baltieri, M.

  Journal of Consciousness Studies · Journal article

  Publisher Preprint

• Active inference for action-unaware agents

  Torresan, F., Suzuki, K., Kanai, R. & Baltieri, M.

  Neurocomputing · Journal article

  Publisher Preprint

• Steam-engine naturalism

  Baltieri, M., & Kanai, R.

  Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 49 · Commentary

  Publisher PDF Preprint

• Ecological causal cognition needs disentanglement: Reply to comments on “Disentangled representations for causal cognition”

  Torresan, F., & Baltieri, M.

  Physics of Life Reviews 58, 7-9 · Commentary

  Publisher PDF

2025

• A Bayesian Interpretation of the Internal Model Principle

  Selected

  Baltieri, M., Biehl, M., Capucci, M., & Virgo, N.

  arXiv:2503.00511 · Preprint

  Preprint

• A “good regulator theorem” for embodied agents

  Selected

  Virgo, N., Biehl, M., Baltieri, M., & Capucci, M.

  Artificial Life Conference (ALIFE) · Conference paper

  Publisher Preprint

• AI in a vat: Fundamental limits of efficient world modelling for agent sandboxing and interpretability

  Selected

  Rosas, F., Boyd, A. & Baltieri, M.

  Reinforcement Learning Conference (RLC) · Conference paper

  Publisher Preprint

• Editorial Introduction to the 2023 Conference on Artificial Life Special Issue

  Iizuka, H., Suzuki, K., Suzuki, R., Izquierdo, E. J. & Baltieri, M.

  Artificial Life · Journal article

  Publisher PDF

• From monoliths to modules: Decomposing transducers for efficient world modelling

  Boyd, A., Nowak, F., Hyland, D., Baltieri, M., Rosas, F. E.

  arXiv:2512.02193 · Preprint

  Preprint

• A coalgebraic perspective on predictive processing

  Baltieri, M., Torresan, F., & Nakai, T.

  arXiv:2508.16877 · Preprint

  Preprint

• ALIFE 2025: Ciphers of Life: Proceedings of the Artificial Life Conference 2025

  Witkowski, O., Adams, A. M., Sinapayen, L., Baltieri, M., & Khosravy, M.

  MIT Press · Edited volume

  Publisher

2024

• Disentangled Representations for Causal Cognition

  Selected

  Torresan, F. & Baltieri, M.

  Physics of Life Reviews · Journal article

  Publisher PDF Preprint

2023

• Hybrid Life: Integrating Biological, Artificial, and Cognitive Systems

  Selected

  Baltieri, M., Iizuka, H., Witkowski, O., Sinapayen, L., & Suzuki, K.

  WIREs Cognitive Science · Journal article

  Publisher PDF Preprint

• ALIFE 2023 - Ghost in the Machine: Proceedings of the 2023 Artificial Life Conference

  Iizuka, H., Suzuki, K., Uno, R., Damiano, L., Spychala, N., Aguilera, M., Izquierdo, E., Suzuki, R., & Baltieri, M.

  MIT Press · Edited volume

  Publisher

2022

• The Emperor is Naked: Replies to the commentaries on the target article.

  Bruineberg, J., Dolega, K., Dewhurst, J., & Baltieri, M.

  Behavioral and Brain Sciences · Journal article

  Publisher PDF

• Special Issue - Emerging Methods in Active Inference

  Parr, T., Baltieri, M., van de Laar, T., Ueltzhöffer, K., Cialfi, D., & Friston, K. J.

  Entropy, MDPI · Guest editing

  Publisher

2021

• The Emperor’s New Markov Blankets

  Bruineberg, J., Dolega, K., Dewhurst, J., & Baltieri, M.

  Behavioral and Brain Sciences · Journal article

  Publisher PDF Preprint

• Active inference through whiskers

  Mannella, F., Maggiore, F., Baltieri, M., & Pezzulo, G.

  Neural Networks · Journal article

  Publisher Preprint

• Embodied Skillful Performance: Where the Action Is

  Hipolito, I., Baltieri, M., Friston, K. J., & Ramstead, M. J.

  Synthese · Journal article

  Publisher Preprint

• Kalman filters as the steady-state solution of gradient descent on variational free energy

  Baltieri, M., & Isomura, T.

  arXiv:2111.10530 · Preprint

  Preprint

• Thinking about robots

  Baltieri, M.

  Robot 100 · Book chapter

  Publisher

2020

• Predictions in the eye of the beholder: an active inference account of Watt governors

  Baltieri, M., Buckley, C. L., & Bruineberg, J.

  Artificial Life Conference (ALIFE) · Conference paper

  Publisher Preprint

• A Bayesian perspective on classical control

  Baltieri, M.

  2020 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN) · Conference paper

  Publisher Preprint

• Scaling active inference

  Tschantz, A., Baltieri, M., Seth, A. K. & Buckley, C. L.

  2020 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN) · Conference paper

  Publisher Preprint

• On Kalman-Bucy filters, linear quadratic control and active inference

  Baltieri, M., & Buckley, C. L.

  arXiv:2005.06269 · Preprint

  Preprint

2019

• Active Inference: Computational Models of Motor Control without Efference Copy

  Baltieri, M., & Buckley, C. L.

  Cognitive Computational Neuroscience Conference (CCN) · Conference paper

  Publisher

• The dark room problem in predictive processing and active inference, a legacy of cognitivism?

  Baltieri, M., & Buckley, C. L.

  Artificial Life Conference (ALIFE) · Conference paper

  Publisher Preprint

• Nonmodular architectures of cognitive systems based on active inference

  Baltieri, M., & Buckley, C. L.

  2019 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN) · Conference paper

  Publisher Preprint

• PID control as a process of active inference with linear generative models

  Baltieri, M., & Buckley, C. L.

  Entropy 21 (3), 257 · Journal article

  Publisher

• Generative models as parsimonious descriptions of sensorimotor loops

  Baltieri, M., & Buckley, C. L.

  Behavioral and Brain Sciences 42, 218 · Commentary

  Publisher Preprint

2018

• A probabilistic interpretation of PID control

  Baltieri, M., & Buckley, C. L.

  Simulation of Adaptive Behavior Conference (SAB) · Conference paper

  Publisher Preprint

• The modularity of action and perception revisited using control theory and active inference

  Baltieri, M., & Buckley, C. L.

  Artificial Life Conference (ALIFE) · Conference paper

  Publisher Preprint

2017

• An active inference implementation of phototaxis

  Baltieri, M., & Buckley, C. L.

  European Conference on Artificial Life (ECAL) · Conference paper

  Publisher Preprint

2015

• A minimal active inference agent

  McGregor, S., Baltieri, M., & Buckley, C. L.

  arXiv:1503.04187 · Preprint

  Preprint