What if eye...? Computationally recreating vision evolution.

Abstract

Natural selection has produced diverse vision systems, from simple patches of photoreceptors to complex camera eyes, representing just one set of evolutionary outcomes. Computational evolution offers a way to systematically test hypotheses, isolate individual factors, and ask the "why" questions behind vision. We recreate vision evolution by coevolving eyes and behaviors in embodied agents and use this to illuminate principles shaping vision across different levels of the Marr's hierarchy. This leads to three key findings: First, we provide computational evidence that task-specific selection drives bifurcation in eye evolution. Second, we reveal how optical innovations naturally emerge to resolve fundamental trade-offs between light collection and spatial precision. Third, we uncover scaling laws between visual acuity and neural processing that provide insights into long-standing hypothesis behind eye and brain size. Our work introduces a paradigm that uses embodied artificial intelligence (AI) as hypothesis-testing machines that can help accelerate discoveries in vision science.