Introduction to Intelligent Systems

Mrs Chipo Mavetera

 Flash Back
• Formulate and solve a traditional IS problem and
design knowledge representation methods
• Use knowledge representation techniques
• Application of different systematic and heuristic
search techniques
• Practice in expressing problems in terms of state-
space search
 Flash Back
• Gain broad knowledge of the subfields and
applications of AI, e.g computer vision, machine
learning and expert systems.
• Detailed knowledge of one subfield of AI (e.g.
natural language processing, planning) and ability
to apply its formalisms and representations to
small problems
• Detailed understanding of different approaches to
autonomous agent and robot architectures, and
the ability to critically evaluate their advantages
and disadvantages in different contexts.
• Practice in the implementation of simple AI
systems using a suitable language
 Outcomes
• What are Intelligent systems?

• History of Artificial Intelligence

• From GOFAI to Nouvelle AI

• Applications of Artificial Intelligence

• Challenges for AI

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 What is Artificial Intelligence?
• The attempt to make computers more intelligent.
• The attempt to understand human intelligence better.
• Four approaches:
– are we interested in reasoning,
– or acting,
– do we take humans as models for building systems,
– do we want to establish new guidelines of how should a
rational entity think/act/behave?

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 Artificial Intelligence
• Computational models of human behaviour
– programs that behave externally like humans.

• Computational model of human thought process

– programs that operate internally the way humans do.

• Computational systems that behave intelligently

• Computational systems that behave rationally

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 History of AI
• Term ”artificial intelligence” (1956)
• Early enthusiasm (1952-69)
- Claims: computers can do X
- General Problem Solver, Newell and Simon
Intentionally solved puzzles in a similar way as humans do
(order of sub-goals)
- Geometry Theorem Prover, Herbert Gelernter, 1959
- Blocks world: vision, learning, NLP, planning
• Confronting reality (1966-74)
- current approach did not scale
- intractability

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 Early Artificial Intelligence
• Alan Turing, early 1950s
– The Turing Test

• Simon and Newell, late 1950s

– General Problem Solver – GPS

• Shakey - Stanford 1966-72

– First autonomous robot

– Today??
 Different approaches
• Philosophical
– Definition of ‘intelligence’
• Cognitive
– Plausible models of human abilities
• To better understand humans
• Engineering
– Behaviour which is ‘intelligent’ for humans
• Chess? Recognising a pencil?
• Why humans?
• Be able to do the right thing!

• Examples
 Good Old Fashioned AI (GOFAI)
Three major components:
1. Explicit representation of knowledge
– Usually symbolic
– Supports explanation

2. Inferencing Mechanisms
– Application of knowledge
– Production of new knowledge

3. Current conclusions
– Working memory
 Changing aims...from GOFAI to '
Nouvelle AI
From: Powerful, general mechanisms
– ‘General’ Problem Solver (1950s-60s)

Via: Knowledge-rich, domain specific mechanisms

– Expert Systems; Cognitive modelling; Connectionist
approach (1970s-80s)

To: Situated intelligence

– Integrating sensing and acting (1990s-00s)
 What do we work towards?
• Systems that act like humans
• Modelling human behaviour:
– The Turing Test
http://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/~asaygin/tt/ttest.html
– The Loebner Prize
http://www.loebner.net/Prizef/loebner-prize.html
– The Chinese Room
http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/c/chineser.htm

Home work

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 The Turing Test
• Proposed by Alan Turing in 1950
– Attempts to answer the question whether machines can think
– Assesses the machine’s ability to imitate a human being, i.e.
can machines communicate in natural language in a manner
indistinguishable from that of a human being?
* argument of senses.
* argument of continuity of the nervous system.
* argument of informality of behaviour.
– Based on the idea that we know intelligence when we see it,
not on an agreed definition.
* Total Turing Test: Requires physical interaction and needs
perception and actuation.

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 How can a computer pass
a Turing Test?
• Natural language processing: to communicate with examiner.
• Knowledge representation: to store and retrieve information
provided before or during interrogation.
• Automated reasoning: to use the stored information to answer
questions and to draw new conclusions.
• Machine learning: to adapt to new circumstances and to detect
and extrapolate patterns.
• Vision (for Total Turing test): to recognize the examiner’s
actions and various objects presented by the examiner.
• Motor control (total test): to act upon objects as requested.
• Other senses (total test): such as audition, smell, touch.
 The Chinese Room

• It’s possible to pass TT, but how about?

Human who
Native story and cannot
Chinese questions in understand
speaker Chinese Chinese

responses in English
Fluent program for
Chinese manipulating
Chinese
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 Strong AI and the Chinese Room
• A ’thought’ experiment
– John Searle, a philosopher

• A room, a person with some rules for translating inputs to

outputs
– Inputs are some Chinese characters
– Rules used to produce output Chinese characters

• But does anyone ‘understand’ Chinese?

http://www.iep.utm.edu/c/chineser.htm
 An example

• The towers of Hanoi

– three towers: one tower with
n disks, each one smaller than
the one beneath it, and two other
towers with none

• Aim: to move a set of n disks from one tower to

another using a third tower for temporary storage
– Constraint 1: disks can be moved one at a time
– Constraint 2: a larger disk can not rest on a smaller one
 AI Applications
• Financial services: Quantifying Operational Risk with Bayesian
Networks; Software To Aid Traders in Decision Making, Software
Curbs Fraudulent Transactions.
• Machine learning: Genetic Algorithms Form Backbone for Efficient
Data Mining.
• Fuzzy logic: Fuzzy Logic For Navigating Robots; Fuzzy Logic Aids in
Production Planning.
• Neural networks: Neural Net Detectors for Spotting Radioactive
Material in Fast Moving Vehicles.
• Agent-based systems: Agents To Bring Planning into Business
Applications; Intelligent Agents To Protect Nation's Security .

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 Challenges for AI today
• Exponential growth of unstructured data: data mining powered by
AI algorithms have defined new ways to exploration of data.
• Artificial Intelligence-based filtering technology works need to
adapt faster than the spammers change their methodology of
attack.
• Rapid development incites a need for manufacturing applications
with inbuilt reasoning capabilities.
• Software defined new ways to management of knowledge assets.

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 Related Videos
• The birth of AI and the GOFAI
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA3m9jgMp3U
• Rule based Systems
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwtJAYonOcw&feature=related
• The Chinese room
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xao9Kt_mvt0&feature=related
• The birth of Nouvelle AI and Revival of Connectionism
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=FKS8pC0ROA0&feature=related
• Shakey the autonomous robot from Stanford University
– http://www.ai.sri.com/shakey
 Reading List
• History of AI
– http://www.aaai.org/AITopics/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/
AITopics/BriefHistory

• Part 1 - Chapter 1: Introduction - from the book:

“Artificial Intelligence - a modern approach”, 3 rd Ed.
• Russell & Norvig (Prentice Hall)
• http://aima.cs.berkeley.edu/