Problem Solving
KABouM: Knowledge-Level Action and Bounding Geometry Motion Planner
Gaschler, Andre, Petrick, Ronald P. A., Khatib, Oussama, Knoll, Alois
For robots to solve real world tasks, they often require the ability to reason about both symbolic and geometric knowledge. We present a framework, called KABouM, for integrating knowledge-level task planning and motion planning in a bounding geometry. By representing symbolic information at the knowledge level, we can model incomplete information, sensing actions and information gain; by representing all geometric entities-- objects, robots and swept volumes of motions--by sets of convex polyhedra, we can efficiently plan manipulation actions and raise reasoning about geometric predicates, such as collisions, to the symbolic level. At the geometric level, we take advantage of our bounded convex decomposition and swept volume computation with quadratic convergence, and fast collision detection of convex bodies. We evaluate our approach on a wide set of problems using real robots, including tasks with multiple manipulators, sensing and branched plans, and mobile manipulation.
Languages evolve based on the unique requirements of AI applications
The evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) grew with the complexity of the languages available for development. In 1959, Arthur Samuel developed a self-learning checkers program at IBM on an IBM 701 computer using the native instructions of the machine (quite a feat given search trees and alpha-beta pruning). But today, AI is developed using various languages, from Lisp to Python to R. This article explores the languages that evolved for AI and machine learning. The programming languages that are used to build AI and machine learning applications vary. Each application has its own constraints and requirements, and some languages are better than others in particular problem domains.
Number Representation Systems Explained in One Picture
Here we are dealing with the oldest data set, created billions of years ago -- the set of integers -- and mostly the set consisting of two numbers: 0 and 1. All of us have learned how to write numbers even before attending primary school. Yet, it is attached to the most challenging unsolved mathematical problems of all times, such as the distribution of the digits of Pi in the decimal system. The table below reflects this contrast, being a blend of rudimentary and deep results. It is a reference for statisticians, number theorists, data scientists, and computer scientists, with a focus on probabilistic results.
Introduction to the SP theory of intelligence
This article provides a brief introduction to the "Theory of Intelligence" and its realisation in the "SP Computer Model". The overall goal of the SP programme of research, in accordance with long-established principles in science, has been the simplification and integration of observations and concepts across artificial intelligence, mainstream computing, mathematics, and human learning, perception, and cognition. In broad terms, the SP system is a brain-like system that takes in "New" information through its senses and stores some or all of it as "Old" information. A central idea in the system is the powerful concept of "SP-multiple-alignment", borrowed and adapted from bioinformatics. This the key to the system's versatility in aspects of intelligence, in the representation of diverse kinds of knowledge, and in the seamless integration of diverse aspects of intelligence and diverse kinds of knowledge, in any combination. There are many potential benefits and applications of the SP system. It is envisaged that the system will be developed as the "SP Machine", which will initially be a software virtual machine, hosted on a high-performance computer, a vehicle for further research and a step towards the development of an industrial-strength SP Machine.
Hierarchical Representations for Efficient Architecture Search
Liu, Hanxiao, Simonyan, Karen, Vinyals, Oriol, Fernando, Chrisantha, Kavukcuoglu, Koray
We explore efficient neural architecture search methods and show that a simple yet powerful evolutionary algorithm can discover new architectures with excellent performance. Our approach combines a novel hierarchical genetic representation scheme that imitates the modularized design pattern commonly adopted by human experts, and an expressive search space that supports complex topologies. Our algorithm efficiently discovers architectures that outperform a large number of manually designed models for image classification, obtaining top-1 error of 3.6% on CIFAR-10 and 20.3% when transferred to ImageNet, which is competitive with the best existing neural architecture search approaches.
Incremental and Iterative Learning of Answer Set Programs from Mutually Distinct Examples
Over these years the Artificial Intelligence (AI) community has produced several datasets which have given the machine learning algorithms the opportunity to learn various skills across various domains. However, a subclass of these machine learning algorithms that aimed at learning logic programs, namely the Inductive Logic Programming algorithms, have often failed at the task due to the vastness of these datasets. This has impacted the usability of knowledge representation and reasoning techniques in the development of AI systems. In this research, we try to address this scalability issue for the algorithms that learn Answer Set Programs. We present a sound and complete algorithm which takes the input in a slightly different manner and perform an efficient and more user controlled search for a solution. We show via experiments that our algorithm can learn from two popular datasets from machine learning community, namely bAbl (a question answering dataset) and MNIST (a dataset for handwritten digit recognition), which to the best of our knowledge was not previously possible. The system is publicly available at https://goo.gl/KdWAcV.
Building and Using Real-World Models
Save 37% off Reactive Machine Learning Systems with code fccsmith2 at manning.com. An approach to building predictive microservices that wraps models and then puts those microservices into containers is an interesting way of doing things. This article enhances this approach by using containerized predictive services in systems that are actually being exposed to real requests for predictions. As promised, we're going to talk about this approach with the help of the speediest of the city's creatures โ the turtle. One of the most successful startups in the entire animal kingdom is Turtle Taxi.
Number Representation Systems Explained in One Picture
Here we are dealing with the oldest data set, created billions of years ago -- the set of integers -- and mostly the set consisting of two numbers: 0 and 1. All of us have learned how to write numbers even before attending primary school. Yet, it is attached to the most challenging unsolved mathematical problems of all times, such as the distribution of the digits of Pi in the decimal system. The table below reflects this contrast, being a blend of rudimentary and deep results. It is a reference for statisticians, number theorists, data scientists, and computer scientists, with a focus on probabilistic results.
Divide and conquer? North Korean 'charm offensive' likely to exacerbate fissures in U.S. alliance
Maybe not, but North Korea's "charm offensive" and leader Kim Jong Un's invitation to South Korean President Moon Jae-in to visit Pyongyang "in the near future" will exacerbate existing fissures in Washington's alliance with Seoul as Pyongyang seeks to further chip away at the relationship. Kim, using the grand stage of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, was behind Saturday's offer to host Moon for talks in the North Korean capital, setting the stage for what would be the first meeting of Korean leaders in more than a decade. The personal invitation from Kim was delivered verbally by his younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, during talks and a lunch Moon hosted at the presidential Blue House in Seoul. Any meeting would represent a diplomatic coup for Moon, who swept to power last year on a policy of engagement with the isolated North while pursuing a diplomatic solution to the standoff over its nuclear and missile programs. Kim Jong Un wanted to meet Moon "in the near future" and would like for him to visit North Korea "at his earliest convenience," his sister told Moon, who had said "let's create the environment for that to be able to happen," Blue House spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom was quoted as saying.
AI Meets Chemistry
Kishimoto, Akihiro (IBM Research) | Buesser, Beat (IBM Research) | Botea, Adi (IBM Research)
We argue that chemistry should be the next grand challenge for Artificial Intelligence. The AI research community and humanity would benefit tremendously from focusing AI research on chemistry on a regular basis, as a benchmark as well as a real-world application domain. To support our position, we review the importance of chemical compound discovery and synthesis planning and discuss the properties of search spaces in a chemistry problem. Knowledge acquired in domains such as two-player board games or single-player puzzles places the AI community in a good position to solve critical problems in the chemistry domain. Yet, we show that searching in chemistry problems poses significant additional challenges that will have to be addressed. Finally, we envision how several AI areas like Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning, planning and search, are relevant for chemistry.