Machine Learning of Robot Assembly Plans


Book Description

The study of artificial intelligence (AI) is indeed a strange pursuit. Unlike most other disciplines, few AI researchers even agree on a mutually acceptable definition of their chosen field of study. Some see AI as a sub field of computer science, others see AI as a computationally oriented branch of psychology or linguistics, while still others see it as a bag of tricks to be applied to an entire spectrum of diverse domains. This lack of unified purpose among the AI community makes this a very exciting time for AI research: new and diverse projects are springing up literally every day. As one might imagine, however, this diversity also leads to genuine difficulties in assessing the significance and validity of AI research. These difficulties are an indication that AI has not yet matured as a science: it is still at the point where people are attempting to lay down (hopefully sound) foundations. Ritchie and Hanna [1] posit the following categorization as an aid in assessing the validity of an AI research endeavor: (1) The project could introduce, in outline, a novel (or partly novel) idea or set of ideas. (2) The project could elaborate the details of some approach. Starting with the kind of idea in (1), the research could criticize it or fill in further details (3) The project could be an AI experiment, where a theory as in (1) and (2) is applied to some domain. Such experiments are usually computer programs that implement a particular theory.




Investigating Explanation-Based Learning


Book Description

Explanation-Based Learning (EBL) can generally be viewed as substituting background knowledge for the large training set of exemplars needed by conventional or empirical machine learning systems. The background knowledge is used automatically to construct an explanation of a few training exemplars. The learned concept is generalized directly from this explanation. The first EBL systems of the modern era were Mitchell's LEX2, Silver's LP, and De Jong's KIDNAP natural language system. Two of these systems, Mitchell's and De Jong's, have led to extensive follow-up research in EBL. This book outlines the significant steps in EBL research of the Illinois group under De Jong. This volume describes theoretical research and computer systems that use a broad range of formalisms: schemas, production systems, qualitative reasoning models, non-monotonic logic, situation calculus, and some home-grown ad hoc representations. This has been done consciously to avoid sacrificing the ultimate research significance in favor of the expediency of any particular formalism. The ultimate goal, of course, is to adopt (or devise) the right formalism.







Foundations of Knowledge Acquisition


Book Description

One of the most intriguing questions about the new computer technology that has appeared over the past few decades is whether we humans will ever be able to make computers learn. As is painfully obvious to even the most casual computer user, most current computers do not. Yet if we could devise learning techniques that enable computers to routinely improve their performance through experience, the impact would be enormous. The result would be an explosion of new computer applications that would suddenly become economically feasible (e. g. , personalized computer assistants that automatically tune themselves to the needs of individual users), and a dramatic improvement in the quality of current computer applications (e. g. , imagine an airline scheduling program that improves its scheduling method based on analyzing past delays). And while the potential economic impact of successful learning methods is sufficient reason to invest in research into machine learning, there is a second significant reason: studying machine learning helps us understand our own human learning abilities and disabilities, leading to the possibility of improved methods in education. While many open questions remain about the methods by which machines and humans might learn, significant progress has been made.




Machine Learning


Book Description

Multistrategy learning is one of the newest and most promising research directions in the development of machine learning systems. The objectives of research in this area are to study trade-offs between different learning strategies and to develop learning systems that employ multiple types of inference or computational paradigms in a learning process. Multistrategy systems offer significant advantages over monostrategy systems. They are more flexible in the type of input they can learn from and the type of knowledge they can acquire. As a consequence, multistrategy systems have the potential to be applicable to a wide range of practical problems. This volume is the first book in this fast growing field. It contains a selection of contributions by leading researchers specializing in this area. See below for earlier volumes in the series.




Machine Learning


Book Description

Machine Learning: An Artificial Intelligence Approach, Volume III presents a sample of machine learning research representative of the period between 1986 and 1989. The book is organized into six parts. Part One introduces some general issues in the field of machine learning. Part Two presents some new developments in the area of empirical learning methods, such as flexible learning concepts, the Protos learning apprentice system, and the WITT system, which implements a form of conceptual clustering. Part Three gives an account of various analytical learning methods and how analytic learning can be applied to various specific problems. Part Four describes efforts to integrate different learning strategies. These include the UNIMEM system, which empirically discovers similarities among examples; and the DISCIPLE multistrategy system, which is capable of learning with imperfect background knowledge. Part Five provides an overview of research in the area of subsymbolic learning methods. Part Six presents two types of formal approaches to machine learning. The first is an improvement over Mitchell's version space method; the second technique deals with the learning problem faced by a robot in an unfamiliar, deterministic, finite-state environment.







Knowledge Engineering Tools and Techniques for AI Planning


Book Description

This book presents a comprehensive review for Knowledge Engineering tools and techniques that can be used in Artificial Intelligence Planning and Scheduling. KE tools can be used to aid in the acquisition of knowledge and in the construction of domain models, which this book will illustrate. AI planning engines require a domain model which captures knowledge about how a particular domain works - e.g. the objects it contains and the available actions that can be used. However, encoding a planning domain model is not a straightforward task - a domain expert may be needed for their insight into the domain but this information must then be encoded in a suitable representation language. The development of such domain models is both time-consuming and error-prone. Due to these challenges, researchers have developed a number of automated tools and techniques to aid in the capture and representation of knowledge. This book targets researchers and professionals working in knowledge engineering, artificial intelligence and software engineering. Advanced-level students studying AI will also be interested in this book.




Explanation-Based Neural Network Learning


Book Description

Lifelong learning addresses situations in which a learner faces a series of different learning tasks providing the opportunity for synergy among them. Explanation-based neural network learning (EBNN) is a machine learning algorithm that transfers knowledge across multiple learning tasks. When faced with a new learning task, EBNN exploits domain knowledge accumulated in previous learning tasks to guide generalization in the new one. As a result, EBNN generalizes more accurately from less data than comparable methods. Explanation-Based Neural Network Learning: A Lifelong Learning Approach describes the basic EBNN paradigm and investigates it in the context of supervised learning, reinforcement learning, robotics, and chess. `The paradigm of lifelong learning - using earlier learned knowledge to improve subsequent learning - is a promising direction for a new generation of machine learning algorithms. Given the need for more accurate learning methods, it is difficult to imagine a future for machine learning that does not include this paradigm.' From the Foreword by Tom M. Mitchell.




Extending Explanation-Based Learning by Generalizing the Structure of Explanations


Book Description

Extending Explanation-Based Learning by Generalizing the Structure of Explanations presents several fully-implemented computer systems that reflect theories of how to extend an interesting subfield of machine learning called explanation-based learning. This book discusses the need for generalizing explanation structures, relevance to research areas outside machine learning, and schema-based problem solving. The result of standard explanation-based learning, BAGGER generalization algorithm, and empirical analysis of explanation-based learning are also elaborated. This text likewise covers the effect of increased problem complexity, rule access strategies, empirical study of BAGGER2, and related work in similarity-based learning. This publication is suitable for readers interested in machine learning, especially explanation-based learning.