http://programmer.ie/tags/hidden-state/ Recent content in Hidden State on Programmer.ie: Modern AI programming Hugo en-us Mon, 10 Aug 2026 20:34:00 +0100 http://programmer.ie/post/cellular-automata-from-first-principles-38/ Mon, 10 Aug 2026 20:34:00 +0100 http://programmer.ie/post/cellular-automata-from-first-principles-38/ <h1 id="cellular-automata-from-first-principles-38-hidden-cell-channels-and-local-memory">Cellular Automata From First Principles 38: Hidden Cell Channels and Local Memory</h1> <p>A visible pixel is not enough state for a cell that must also coordinate growth.</p> <p>So give every cell a vector.</p> <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" style="color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;"><code class="language-text" data-lang="text"><span style="display:flex;"><span>[R, G, B, alpha, h1, h2, ... h12] </span></span></code></pre></div><p>The first channels can be rendered. The rest are private internal state.</p> <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" style="color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;"><code class="language-python" data-lang="python"><span style="display:flex;"><span>CHANNELS <span style="color:#f92672">=</span> <span style="color:#ae81ff">16</span> </span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>VISIBLE <span style="color:#f92672">=</span> <span style="color:#ae81ff">4</span> </span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> </span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>state <span style="color:#f92672">=</span> torch<span style="color:#f92672">.</span>zeros(<span style="color:#ae81ff">1</span>, CHANNELS, <span style="color:#ae81ff">64</span>, <span style="color:#ae81ff">64</span>, device<span style="color:#f92672">=</span>DEVICE) </span></span></code></pre></div><p>The hidden channels have no labels. We do not tell the model that channel 8 means &ldquo;distance from the centre&rdquo; or channel 11 means &ldquo;grow east&rdquo;. If useful internal signals exist, training must discover them.</p>