Embodied World Models Emerge from Navigational Task in Open-Ended Environments
Abstract
Understanding how artificial systems can develop spatial awareness and reasoning has long been a challenge in AI research. Traditional models often rely on passive observation, but embodied cognition theory suggests that deeper understanding emerges from active interaction with the environment. This study investigates whether neural networks can autonomously internalize spatial concepts through interaction, focusing on planar navigation tasks. Using Gated Recurrent Units (GRUs) combined with Meta-Reinforcement Learning (Meta-RL), we show that agents can learn to encode spatial properties like direction, distance, and obstacle avoidance. We introduce Hybrid Dynamical Systems (HDS) to model the agent-environment interaction as a closed dynamical system, revealing stable limit cycles that correspond to optimal navigation strategies. Ridge Representation allows us to map navigation paths into a fixed-dimensional behavioral space, enabling comparison with neural states. Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) confirms strong alignment between these representations, suggesting that the agent's neural states actively encode spatial knowledge. Intervention experiments further show that specific neural dimensions are causally linked to navigation performance. This work provides an approach to bridging the gap between action and perception in AI, offering new insights into building adaptive, interpretable models that can generalize across complex environments. The causal validation of neural representations also opens new avenues for understanding and controlling the internal mechanisms of AI systems, pushing the boundaries of how machines learn and reason in dynamic, real-world scenarios.