Satoru Isaka, Ph.D.

Machine Autonomy

My research topic is machine autonomy and developmental autonomous behavior (see [1] for an outline of my research). I've been exploring the principles and mechanisms that enable machines to acquire new skills autonomously without human intervention. See [2]-[6] for my peer-reviewed publications on this work.

Unlike artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and robotics, which predominantly focus on understanding human cognition and replicating human capabilities, my research is dedicated to examining autonomy from the machine's own perspective. The goal is not to mirror human cognition but to uncover the fundamental systems and processes that govern autonomous machine behavior.

This topic has a significant societal impact but is underappreciated. After three decades of solving real-world problems in the automation industry, I've been concerned with the fundamental issues in integrating autonomy into automation, which are related but distinct concepts. Granting autonomy to machines is a choice by humans, yet its implications are far more profound than most realize.

To articulate and address the issues comprehensively, I am constructing a fundamental, philosophical framework (see [7], [8] for example) as well as an empirical, epistemic framework that captures embodied and ephemeral experience in a non-human context.

Select Publications on Machine Autonomy

[1] S. Isaka, "Research Outline: Machine Autonomy and Developmental Autonomous Behavior," Internal report, August 7, 2025

Older version in public domain: doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.20288.24325

[2] S. Isaka, "Taxonomic Robot Identifiers: Toward General Classification and Oversight for Autonomous Systems," in IEEE Access, vol. 13, pp. 101801-101816, 2025, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2025.3578870

[3] S. Isaka, "A Taxonomic Classification and Identification System for Robots: Abstract," in Proc. 2024 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics (SMC), Kuching, Malaysia, 2024, pp. 3799-3800, doi: 10.1109/SMC54092.2024.10831650

[4] S. Isaka, "Autonomy in Cognitive Development of Robots: Embracing Emergent and Predefined Knowledge and Behavior," in Proc. 2024 IEEE 20th International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE), Bari, Italy, 2024, pp. 1353-1360, doi: 10.1109/CASE59546.2024.10711540

[5] S. Isaka, "An Ethological Analysis of Developmental Behavior in Machines," in Proc. 2023 IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL), Macau, China, 2023, pp. 79-86, doi: 10.1109/ICDL55364.2023.10364472

[6] S. Isaka, "Developmental Autonomous Behavior: An Ethological Perspective to Understanding Machines," in IEEE Access, vol. 11, pp. 17375-17423, 2023, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3246840

[7] S. Isaka, "Philosophical Foundations of Machine Autonomy: What It Means To Grant Autonomy To Machines Part 1: Introduction and First Query," Preprint in ResearchGate, May 9, 2025, doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.10280.48643

[8] S. Isaka, "Critique of Emerging Linguistic Centralism: How Language Distorts Our Understanding of AI and Humanity," Preprint in ResearchGate, August 4, 2025, doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.27676.96643

Local LLMs and Personal Research Tools

To assist my research activities, I built a number of software applications forming a personal ecosystem that exploits local large language models (LLMs) running on my local machines. This personal ecosystem allows me to maintain full control over my data and the processes involved, ensuring privacy and security while leveraging the capabilities of LLMs for various research tasks. The description of Twisted Ecosystem is here. My Github repo is here.

Biography

Satoru Isaka received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in systems science from the University of California, San Diego, in 1984, 1986, and 1989, respectively. His original research focused on adaptive control systems and artificial intelligence. From 1990 to 1998, he was a research scientist at OMRON in factory and healthcare automation. From 1998 to 2004, he served as Chief Technology Officer and Chief Scientist in the fields of service automation, natural language processing, speech automation, and data analysis automation at venture startups in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2004, he founded Vision Del Mar, LLC. where he continues his research.

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