Modularity is critically important for AGI, but we should avoid a naive formulation of modularity.
The most developed notion of modularity comes from computer science. We have notions of encapsulation and all kinds of composition design patterns that are strategically employed to trade-off one concern over another.
Modularity thus is understood as a controlled coordination mechanism between interacting parts. Certain information is allowed to be malleable while other kinds must remain immutable.
Advanced modularity thus is a consequence of sophisticated protocols between agents. It is less about rigid boundaries between what's inside and outside an agent.
Advanced modularity is the dynamic exchange of information in an ecology of smart agents. This drives co-evolution and ultimately more complex emergent behavior.
I wrote this speculative blog post several years ago: medium.com/intuitionmachi…
In another life, I had explored interoperable protocol design. I was applying what I new into the field of deep learning. When I wrote the blog, I was uneasy about the relevance of the connections I made.
The impedance mismatch between protocol design and biological modularity is that the latter does not have a mind to design the actual protocols. Yet, we know that biology is unsurpassed in its adaptive behavior between interfaces.
Nevertheless, humans require conceptual scaffolding to reason about the complexity found in biology. We cannot make progress unless we use a more advanced vocabulary that expresses advanced forms of modularity.

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