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The value of uncertainty: An active inference perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 March 2019

Giovanni Pezzulo  and
Karl J. Friston
Giovanni Pezzulo
Affiliation:
Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, 00185 Rome, Italy. [email protected]://www.istc.cnr.it/people/giovanni-pezzulo
Karl J. Friston
Affiliation:
Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK. [email protected]://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/Friston/
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Abstract

We discuss how uncertainty underwrites exploration and epistemic foraging from the perspective of active inference: a generic scheme that places pragmatic (utility maximization) and epistemic (uncertainty minimization) imperatives on an equal footing – as primary determinants of proximal behavior. This formulation contextualizes the complementary motivational incentives for reward-related stimuli and environmental uncertainty, offering a normative treatment of their trade-off.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 42 , 2019 , e47
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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