Problem Solving
On Representations of Problems of Reasoning about Actions
"The purpose of this paper is to clarify some basic issues of choice of representation for problems of reasoning about actions. The general problem of re- Presentation is concerned with the relationship between different ways of formulating a problem to a problem solving system and the efficiency with which the system can be expected to find a solution to the problem. An understanding of the relationship between problem formulation and problem solving efficiency is a prerequisite for the design of procedures that can automatically choose the most `appropriate' representation of a problem ( they can find a `point of view' of the problem that maximally simplifies the process of finding a solution).Many problems of practical importance are problems of reasoning about actions. In these problems, a course of action has to be found that satisfies a number of specified conditions. A formal definition of this class of problems is given in the next section, in the context of a general conceptual framework for formulating these problems for computers. Everyday examples of reasoning about actions include planning an airplane trip, organizing a dinner party, etc. There are many examples of industrial and military problems in this category, such as scheduling assembly and transportation processes, designing a program for a computer, planning a military operation, etc."In D.Michie (Ed.), Machine intelligence 3. New York: American Elsevier,131-171
Some Studies in Machine Learning Using the Game of Checkers, II - Recent Progress
A new signature table technique is described together with an improved book learning procedure which is thought to be much superior to the linear polynomial method described earlier. Full use is made of the so called âalpha-betaâ pruning and several forms of forward pruning to restrict the spread of the move tree and to permit the program to look ahead to a much greater depth than it other- wise could do. While still unable to outplay checker masters, the programâs playing ability has been greatly improved.See also:IEEE XploreAnnual Review in Automatic Programming, Volume 6, Part 1, 1969, Pages 1–36Some Studies in Machine Learning Using the Game of CheckersIBM J of Research and Development ll, No.6, 1967,601
Experiments with a heuristic compiler
"This report describes some experiments in constructing a compiler that makes use of heuristic problem~solving techniques such as those incorporated in the General Problem Solver (GPS). The experiments were aimed at the dual objectives of throwing light on some of the problems of constructing more powerful programming languages and compilers, and of testing whether the task of writing a computer program can be regarded as a "problem" in the sense in which that term is used in GPS. The present paper is concerned primarily with the second objective--with analyzing some of the problem-solving processes that are involved in writing computer programs. At the present stage of their development, no claims will be made for the heuristic programming procedures described here as practical approaches to the construction of compilers. Their interest lies in what they teach us about the nature of the programming task." JACM, 10, 493-506. See also: Artificial intelligence and self-organizing systems: Experiments with a Heuristic Compiler. (http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=806076)
Computers and Thought
E.A. Feigenbaum and J. Feldman (Eds.). Computers and Thought. McGraw-Hill, 1963. This collection includes twenty classic papers by such pioneers as A. M. Turing and Marvin Minsky who were behind the pivotal advances in artificially simulating human thought processes with computers. All Parts are available as downloadable pdf files; most individual chapters are also available separately. COMPUTING MACHINERY AND INTELLIGENCE. A. M. Turing. CHESS-PLAYING PROGRAMS AND THE PROBLEM OF COMPLEXITY. Allen Newell, J.C. Shaw and H.A. Simon. SOME STUDIES IN MACHINE LEARNING USING THE GAME OF CHECKERS. A. L. Samuel. EMPIRICAL EXPLORATIONS WITH THE LOGIC THEORY MACHINE: A CASE STUDY IN HEURISTICS. Allen Newell J.C. Shaw and H.A. Simon. REALIZATION OF A GEOMETRY-THEOREM PROVING MACHINE. H. Gelernter. EMPIRICAL EXPLORATIONS OF THE GEOMETRY-THEOREM PROVING MACHINE. H. Gelernter, J.R. Hansen, and D. W. Loveland. SUMMARY OF A HEURISTIC LINE BALANCING PROCEDURE. Fred M. Tonge. A HEURISTIC PROGRAM THAT SOLVES SYMBOLIC INTEGRATION PROBLEMS IN FRESHMAN CALCULUS. James R. Slagle. BASEBALL: AN AUTOMATIC QUESTION ANSWERER. Green, Bert F. Jr., Alice K. Wolf, Carol Chomsky, and Kenneth Laughery. INFERENTIAL MEMORY AS THE BASIS OF MACHINES WHICH UNDERSTAND NATURAL LANGUAGE. Robert K. Lindsay. PATTERN RECOGNITION BY MACHINE. Oliver G. Selfridge and Ulric Neisser. A PATTERN-RECOGNITION PROGRAM THAT GENERATES, EVALUATES, AND ADJUSTS ITS OWN OPERATORS. Leonard Uhr and Charles Vossler. GPS, A PROGRAM THAT SIMULATES HUMAN THOUGHT. Allen Newell and H.A. Simon. THE SIMULATION OF VERBAL LEARNING BEHAVIOR. Edward A. Feigenbaum. PROGRAMMING A MODEL OF HUMAN CONCEPT FORMULATION. Earl B. Hunt and Carl I. Hovland. SIMULATION OF BEHAVIOR IN THE BINARY CHOICE EXPERIMENT Julian Feldman. A MODEL OF THE TRUST INVESTMENT PROCESS. Geoffrey P. E. Clarkson. A COMPUTER MODEL OF ELEMENTARY SOCIAL BEHAVIOR. John T. Gullahorn and Jeanne E. Gullahorn. TOWARD INTELLIGENT MACHINES. Paul Armer. STEPS TOWARD ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. Marvin Minsky. A SELECTED DESCRIPTOR-INDEXED BIBLIOGRAPHY TO THE LITERATURE ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. Marvin Minsky.
A selected descriptor indexed bibliography to the literature on artificial intelligence
This listing is intended as an introduction to the literature on Artificial Intelligence, i.e., to the literature dealing with the problem of making machines behave intelligently. We have divided this area into categories and cross-indexed the references accordingly. Large bibliographies without some classification facility are next to useless. This particular field is still young, but there are already many instances in which workers have wasted much time in rediscovering (for better or for worse) schemes already reported. In the last year or two this problem has become worse, and in such a situation just about any information is better than none. This bibliography is intended to serve just that purpose-to present some information about this literature. The selection was confined mainly to publications directly concerned with construction of artificial problem-solving systems. Many peripheral areas are omitted completely or represented only by a few citations.IRE Trans. on Human Factors in Electronics, HFE-2, pages 39-55
Steps Toward Artificial Intelligence
... The literature does not include any general discussion of the outstanding problems of this field. In this article, an attempt will be made to separate out, analyze, and find the relations between some of these problems. Analysis will be supported with enough examples from the literature to serve the introductory function of a review article, but there remains much relevant work not described here.Proc. Institute of Radio Engineers 49, p. 8-30
GPS, a program that simulates human thought
This article is concerned with the psychology of human thinking. It setsforth a theory to explain how some humans try to solve some simpleformal problems. The research from which the theory emerged is intimatelyrelated to the field of information processing and the construction of intelligentautomata, and the theory is expressed in the form of a computerprogram. The rapid technical advances in the art of programming digitalcomputers to do sophisticated tasks have made such a theory feasible.It is often argued that a careful line must be drawn between the attemptto accomplish with machines the same tasks that humans perform, andthe attempt to simulate the processes humans actually use to accomplishthese tasks. The program discussed in the report, GPS (General ProblemSolver), maximally confuses the two approachesâwith-mutual"!benefit. Lerende Automaten, Munich: Oldenberg KG
Realization of a geometry theorem-proving machine
... the technique of heuristic programmingis under detailed investigation as a means to the end of applying largescaledigital computers to the solution of a difficult class of problems currentlyconsidered to be beyond their capabilities; namely those problemsthat seem to require the agent of human intelligence and ingenuity fortheir solution. It is difficult to characterize such problems further, except,perhaps, to remark rather vaguely that they generally involve complexdecision processes in a potentially infinite and uncontrollable environment.If, however, we should restrict the universe of problems to those thatamount to the discovery of a proof for a theorem in some well-definedformal system, then the distinguishing characteristics of those problems ofspecial interest to us are brought clearly into focus.Proceedings of an International Conference on Information Processing. Paris:UNESCO House, 273-282.