XINHUA – A new study has revealed that groups of ants, in some cases, outperform humans in team-based tasks, such as navigating a maze challenge. The study, conducted by the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS), was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) recently.
The new study was based on a trait shared by humans and ants: their ability to consistently cooperate while transporting large loads that greatly exceed the body size.
This unique trait provided the basis for a competition to assess who could better maneuver a large load through a maze. To compare ants and humans, the researchers adapted the “piano movers puzzle” problem from motion planning and robotics, using a large T-shaped object instead of a piano. The object had to be moved across a space with three chambers and narrow slits.
Two sets of mazes were created to match the sizes of ants, humans, and different group sizes. The ants, Paratrechina longicornis, were tricked into thinking the load was food.
For a fair comparison, human groups were instructed to avoid verbal or gestural communication. Unsurprisingly, humans outperformed ants in the individual challenge due to their cognitive abilities.
However, in the team challenge, ants worked strategically, using collective memory to stay on course and avoid mistakes.
Humans, on the contrary, failed to significantly improve their performance when acting in groups. When communication between group members was restricted to resemble that of ants, their performance even dropped compared to that of individuals. They tended to opt for “greedy” solutions, which were not beneficial in the long term, and chose the lowest common denominator.
The researchers explained that the findings validate the vision of an ant colony as a family, with all members having common interests, where cooperation greatly outweighs competition.
