{"paper":{"title":"Replication and Information Extraction in a Minimal Agent-Environment Model","license":"http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/","headline":"","cross_cats":["cond-mat.stat-mech","nlin.AO"],"primary_cat":"cond-mat.dis-nn","authors_text":"Davide Straziota, Jerome Garnier-Brun, Luca Saglietti, Sebastiano Ariosto","submitted_at":"2025-09-27T09:49:11Z","abstract_excerpt":"How can information be extracted from data without explicit guidance or rewards? We investigate this question in a minimal setting where a classifying agent is exposed to a stream of structured data produced by a generative environment, and evolves by seeking consistency of its own labels in time. We find that imposing a simplicity bias on the classification rule can drive the dynamics toward label-coherent steady states, which we coin functional replicators. Remarkably, these persistent labeling rules align with the latent structure of the data. Using analytical tools from statistical mechani"},"claims":{"count":0,"items":[],"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"source":{"id":"2509.23212","kind":"arxiv","version":2},"verdict":{"id":null,"model_set":{},"created_at":null,"strongest_claim":"","one_line_summary":"","pipeline_version":null,"weakest_assumption":"","pith_extraction_headline":""},"integrity":{"clean":true,"summary":{"advisory":0,"critical":0,"by_detector":{},"informational":0},"endpoint":"/pith/2509.23212/integrity.json","findings":[],"available":true,"detectors_run":[],"snapshot_sha256":"c28c3603d3b5d939e8dc4c7e95fa8dfce3d595e45f758748cecf8e644a296938"},"references":{"count":0,"sample":[],"resolved_work":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57","internal_anchors":0},"formal_canon":{"evidence_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"author_claims":{"count":0,"strong_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"builder_version":"pith-number-builder-2026-05-17-v1"}