The free energy principle is a mathematical theory of § Intelligence that says intelligent systems aim to minimize surprise and maximize predictability by either making internal world models as close to reality as possible, or enacting change in the world to make it closer to the system’s predictions.
The framework was created by British neuroscientist Karl Friston. The FEP is a “grand unified theory” of the brain that has been applied to explain both perception and action. Friston has argued for the FEP as a “guiding principle of all biology and evolution and even as a way of understanding the fundamentals of physics.”
As a principle, the FEP is unfalsifiable.
From Models of the Mind:
The free energy principle, however, is more a way of looking at the brain than a strong or specific claim about how it works. As Friston said: ‘The free energy principle is what it is—a principle … there’s not much you can do with it, unless you ask whether measurable systems conform to the principle.’