A Lisp Interpreter Implemented in Conway's Game of Life (2022) (woodrush.github.io)

A groundbreaking project has successfully implemented a Lisp interpreter within Conway's Game of Life, marking the first instance where a high-level programming language is interpreted in this cellular automaton. Dubbed "Lisp in Life," this interpreter allows users to input, execute, and directly modify Lisp programs through a visual representation, with results outputted in the structure of the Game of Life. It highlights the expressive capabilities of Lisp while demonstrating the Turing-complete nature of Conway's Game of Life—a system based on simple rules that can simulate complex computations. This development is significant for the AI/ML community as it bridges the gap between abstract programming languages and cellular automata, potentially inspiring novel approaches in computational theory and AI. Technically, the robust implementation supports lexical closures and macros, facilitating advanced programming paradigms akin to object-oriented structures. The project optimized various layers, including the compiler and CPU architecture, to efficiently read and evaluate Lisp code within the constraints of the Game of Life environment. This innovation may have implications for future explorations in programming language design and computation using unconventional frameworks.