Volume 17, Number 2
S-AI-DEF : A Bio-Inspired and Parsimonious Cognitive Architecture for Adaptive Artificial Intelligence in Defense Systems
Authors
Said Slaoui , Mohammed V University, Morocco
Abstract
In mission-critical and military environments, artificial intelligence systems must operate under strict constraints of robustness, responsiveness, and resource frugality. This paper introduces S-AI-DEF, a bio-inspired and cognitively grounded architecture derived from the Sparse Artificial Intelligence (SAI) paradigm. It combines modular specialized agents, a central MetaAgent for symbolic orchestration, and a biologically inspired hormonal signaling layer to enable context-aware, fail-tolerant, and explainable decision-making. The architecture supports graceful degradation, local autonomy, and emergent behavior, while maintaining global coherence through top-down hormonal modulation. S-AIDEF integrates three core cognitive principles : (1) modular specialization for task-focused efficiency, (2) hormonal signaling for implicit coordination and urgency modulation, and (3) symbolic memorybased reasoning for strategic adaptation. This design enables robust operation under adversarial, uncertain, or degraded conditions. Experimental simulations demonstrate the system’s capacity to prioritize vital functions, self-regulate in partial failure scenarios, and provide interpretable outputs traceable to symbolic pathways. By merging cognitive modularity with biologically inspired regulation, S-AI-DEF offers a foundation for next-generation military AI : resilient by design, frugal by necessity, and controllable by principle.
Keywords
Sparse AI ; MetaAgent ; Military Systems ; Critical Infrastructures ; Hormonal Signaling ; Systems and specialized Agent-Based Architecture.