Dept. of Computer Science, Carnegie-Mellon University. "Many game-playing programs must search very large game trees. Use of the alpha-beta pruning algorithm instead of the simple minimax search reduces by a large factor the number of bottom positions which must be examined in the search. An analytical expression for the expected number of bottom positions examined in a game tree using alpha-beta pruning is derived, subject to the assumptions that the branching factor N and the depth D of the tree are arbitrary but fixed, and the bottom positions are a random permutation of ND unique values. A simple approximation to the growth rate of the expected number of bottom positions examined is suggested, based on a Monte Carlo simulation for large values of N and D. The behavior of the model is compared with the behavior of the alpha-beta algorithm in a chess playing program and the effects of correlation and non-unique bottom position values in real game trees are examined."

Proceedings of the international conference on computational linguistics, Pisa, Italy.

The intention is as follows.

The frame problem in representing natural-language information is discussed. It is argued that the problem is not restricted to problem-solving-type situations, in which it has mostly been studied so far, but also has a broader significance. A new solution to the frame problem, which arose within a larger system for representing natural-language information, is described. The basic idea is to extend the predicate calculus notation with a special operator, Unless, with peculiar properties. Some difficulties with Unless are described.

And-or graphs and theorem-proving graphs determine the same kind of search space and differ only in the direction of search: from axioms to goals, in the case of theorem-proving graphs, and in the opposite direction, from goals to axioms, in the case of and-or graphs. Bidirectional search strategies combine both directions of search. We investigate the construction of a single general algorithm which covers unidirectional search both for and-or graphs and for theorem-proving graphs, bidirectional search for path-finding problems and search for a simplest solution as well as search for any solution. We obtain a general theory of completeness which applies to search spaces with infinite or-branching. In the case of search for any solution, we argue against the application of strategies designed for finding simplest solutions, but argue for assigning a major role in guiding the search to the use of symbol complexity (the number of symbol occurrences in a derivation).

Selected quotes:"The Science Research Council has been receiving an increasing number of applications for research support in the rather broad field with mathematical engineering and biological aspects which often goes under the general description Articial Intelligence (Al). The research support applied for is sufficient in volume, and in variety of discipline involved, to demand that a general view of the field be taken by the Council itself.""To supplement the important mass of specialist and detailed information available to the Science Research Council its Chairman decided to commission an independent report by someone outside the Al field but with substantial general experience of research work in multidisciplinary fields including fields with mathematical, engineering and biological aspects."-----"Most workers in Al research and in related elds confess to a pro nounced feeling of disappointment in what has been achieved in the past twenty-five years. Workers entered the feld around 1950, and even around 1960, with high hopes that are very far from having been realised in 1972. In no part of the field have the discoveries made so far produced the major impact that was then promised.""In the meantime, claims and predictions regarding the potential results of Al research had been publicised which went even farther than the expectations of the majority of workers in the field whose embarrassments have been added to by the lamentable failure of such inflated predictions.""These general statements are expanded in a little more detail in the rest of section 3, which has been influenced by the views of large numbers of people listed in section 1 but which like the whole of this report represents in the last analysis only the personal view of the author. Before going into such detail he is inclined, as a mathematician, to single out one rather general cause for the disappointments that have been experienced: failure to recognise the implications of the 'combinatorial explosion'."See also: BBC TV - June 1973 - Lighthill Controversy Debate at the Royal Institution with Professor Sir James Lighthill, Professor Donald Michie, Professor Richard Gregory and Professor John McCarthy.Also in Lighthill, J., Sutherland, N. S., Needham, R. M., Longuet-Higgins, H. C., and Michie, D. (Eds.), Artificial Intelligence: A Paper Symposium. Science Research Council of Great Britain.

"In this paper we describe some major new additions to the STRIPS robot problem-solving system. The first addition is a process for generalizing a plan produced by STRIPS so that problem-specific constants appearing in the plan are replaced by problem-independent parameters.The generalized plan, stored in a convenient format called a triangle table, has two important functions. The more obvious function is as a single macro action that can be used by STRIPS—either in whole or in part—during the solution of a subsequent problem. Perhaps less obviously, the generalized plan also plays a central part in the process that monitors the real-world execution of a plan, and allows the robot to react "intelligently" to unexpected consequences of actions.We conclude with a discussion of experiments with the system on several example problems."Artificial Intelligence 3:251-288

An initial version of the program has been implemented in LISP on a PDP-10 and is being used in conjunction with robot research at SRI. STRIPS is a member of the class of problem solvers that search a space of "world models" to ind one in w hich a given goal is achieved. For any world model, we assume that there exists a set of appllcable ope rators, each of w hi eh transforms the world model to some other world model. The task of the problem solver is to find some composl11on of ope rat ors that trans forms a given initial worId mode] into one t hat satisfies some stated goa1 condltion. This f rarnewo rk for probl em so 1 v i ng has l een cen t ra 1 to much of t he research I n artificial Intel licence (1). Ou r p nmary interest he re is in the class of p robJ ems faced by a robot in rea rranging ob]ec t s and in navigatlng, l.e.

A paradigm enabling heuristic problem solving programs to exploit an analogy between a current unsolved problem and a similar but previously solved problem to simplify it s search for a solu­tion is outlined. It is developed in detail for a first-order resolution logic theorem prover. Descriptions of the paradigm, implemented LISP programs, and preliminary experimental results are presented. This is believed to be the firs t system that develops analogical information and exploits it so that a problem-solving program can speed its search.IJCAI-71, British Computer Society, London, 1971. Revised version in Artificial intelligence 2(2):147- 178, fall, 1971.

This paper echoes, from a philosophical standpoint, the claim of McCarthy and Hayes that Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence have important relations. Philosophical problems about the use of "intuition" in reasoning are related, via a concept of analogical representation, to problems in the simulation of perception, problem-solving and the generation of useful sets of possibilities in considering how to act. The requirements for intelligent decision-making proposed by McCarthy and Hayes are criticised as too narrow, and more general requirements are suggested instead. Introduction The aim of this paper is to illustrate the way in which interaction between Philosophy and A.I. may be useful for both disciplines. It starts with a discussion of some philosophical issues which interested me long before I knew anything about A.I., and which I believe are considerably enriched and clarified by relating them to problems in A.I., which, they, in turn, help to clarify. This discussion is followed by some general speculations about the conceptual and perceptual equipment required by an animal or machine able to cope with our spatiotemporal environment. Finally, there are further vague, general and programmatic remarks about the relations between Philosophy and A.I. The paper was inspired mainly by discussions with Max Clowes, but also to some extent by the attempts made by McCarthy and Hayes (12), and Hayes (8) to relate philosophical issues to problems in the design of intelligent robots.