cs.DCNov 10, 2025

Resilient by Design -- Active Inference for Distributed Continuum Intelligence

Authors: Praveen Kumar DontaAlfreds LapkovskisEnzo MingozziSchahram Dustdar

Organizations: Department of Computer Systems and Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm 164 25, Sweden. · Department of Information Engineering, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy. · Distributed Systems Group, TU Wien, Vienna 1040, Austria and ICREA Barcelona 08002, Spain

Abstract

Failures are the norm in highly complex and heterogeneous devices spanning the distributed computing continuum (DCC), from resource-constrained IoT and edge nodes to high-performance computing systems. Ensuring reliability and global consistency across these layers remains a major challenge, especially for AI-driven workloads requiring real-time, adaptive coordination. This work-in-progress paper introduces a Probabilistic Active Inference Resilience Agent (PAIR-Agent) to achieve resilience in DCC systems. PAIR-Agent performs three core operations: (i) constructing a causal fault graph from device logs, (ii) identifying faults while managing certainties and uncertainties using Markov blankets and the free energy principle, and (iii) autonomously healing issues through active inference. Through continuous monitoring and adaptive reconfiguration, the agent maintains service continuity and stability under diverse failure conditions. Theoretical validations confirm the reliability and effectiveness of the proposed framework.

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