{
  "handle": "CollectiveInformationArchitecture",
  "ref": "CollectiveInformationArchitecture#5891",
  "stub": "5891",
  "semaId": "sema:CollectiveInformationArchitecture#mh:SHA-256:5891d584ec59bddf1b8da79b61f07530b7fdfb53f13b59590ea9dd629af3b22b",
  "layer": "Society",
  "category": "Coordination",
  "gloss": "Read a collective's behavioural regime as a configuration of how information can flow through its interactions",
  "mechanism": "A decentralised collective such as a {{superorganism}} processes information through its interaction network, so a behavioural regime (exploring, foraging, defending) can be described as a configuration of that network's informational architecture: the diversity, predictability and causal structure of interaction pathways. Measure it on several complementary representations, since {{representation_order}} warns that no single one is sufficient: spatial structure against a random baseline ({{spatial_divergence}}) and succession structure of interactions ({{sequence_signature}}), compared at matched density and against nulls. A regime shift then appears as a reorganisation of the architecture, for example the bifurcation, as interaction density rises, of low-entropy roaming into high-entropy trailing and low-entropy aggression. The view links micro-level interaction rules to macro-level colony states and generalises to other collectives, including networks of AI agents, where the same measures can detect which coordination regime a {{distributed_intelligence}} is in.",
  "invariants": [
    "A regime is characterised by several representations, not one score",
    "Signatures are reported relative to density and to a null baseline",
    "The architecture is inferred from observed interactions, without access to any agent's internal plan"
  ],
  "failureModes": [
    "Equating the architecture with one measure on one representation",
    "Reading descriptive regime signatures as mechanisms; the measures detect and characterise regimes but do not by themselves explain transitions (that needs information-flow measures such as transfer entropy, perturbation experiments and longer recordings)",
    "Transferring ant findings to AI agent swarms without re-validating what counts as an interaction there"
  ],
  "ring": 1,
  "tier": 2,
  "aliases": {
    "sequence_signature": "InteractionSequenceEntropySignature",
    "representation_order": "RepresentationDependentOrder",
    "superorganism": "Superorganism",
    "distributed_intelligence": "DistributedIntelligence",
    "spatial_divergence": "LocalSpatialStateDivergence"
  },
  "buildsOn": [
    {
      "handle": "InteractionSequenceEntropySignature",
      "type": "composes_with",
      "alias": "sequence_signature",
      "url": "/knowledge-graph/InteractionSequenceEntropySignature/",
      "json": "/knowledge-graph/InteractionSequenceEntropySignature.json"
    },
    {
      "handle": "RepresentationDependentOrder",
      "type": "references",
      "alias": "representation_order",
      "url": "/knowledge-graph/RepresentationDependentOrder/",
      "json": "/knowledge-graph/RepresentationDependentOrder.json"
    },
    {
      "handle": "Superorganism",
      "type": "references",
      "alias": "superorganism",
      "url": "/knowledge-graph/Superorganism/",
      "json": "/knowledge-graph/Superorganism.json"
    },
    {
      "handle": "DistributedIntelligence",
      "type": "references",
      "alias": "distributed_intelligence",
      "url": "/knowledge-graph/DistributedIntelligence/",
      "json": "/knowledge-graph/DistributedIntelligence.json"
    },
    {
      "handle": "LocalSpatialStateDivergence",
      "type": "composes_with",
      "alias": "spatial_divergence",
      "url": "/knowledge-graph/LocalSpatialStateDivergence/",
      "json": "/knowledge-graph/LocalSpatialStateDivergence.json"
    }
  ],
  "usedBy": [],
  "sources": {
    "research": [],
    "works": [
      {
        "kind": "thesis",
        "label": "Kevin Do, PhD thesis on ant collective behaviour (NCSU, 2026)",
        "note": "Abstract; Ch. 1.3; Ch. 1.5.1 'informational architecture'; Ch. 5.1; Ch. 5.7.1; Ch. 5.8",
        "url": ""
      }
    ],
    "homePage": false
  },
  "url": "/knowledge-graph/CollectiveInformationArchitecture/",
  "graphUrl": "/knowledge-graph#CollectiveInformationArchitecture",
  "directory": "/knowledge-graph/patterns.json"
}