Goto

Collaborating Authors

 Scientific Discovery







Computational Ideation in Scientific Discovery: Interactive Construction, Evaluation, and Revision of Conceptual Models

AAAI Conferences

We present several epistemic views of ideation in scientific discovery that we have investigated: conceptual classification, abductive explanation, conceptual modeling, analogical reasoning, and visual reasoning. We then describe an experiment in computational ideation through model construction, evaluation and revision. We describe an interactive tool called MILAโ€“S that enables construction of conceptual models of ecological phenomena, agent-based simulations of the conceptual model, and revision of the conceptual model based on the results of the simulation. ย  The key feature of MILAโ€“S is that it automatically generates the simulations from the conceptual model. We report on a pilot study with 50 middle school science students who used MILAโ€“S to discover causal explanations for an ecological phenomenon. Initial results from the study indicate that use of MILAโ€“S had a significant impact both on the process of model construction and the nature of the constructed models. ย We posit that MILAโ€“S may enable scientists to construct, evaluate and revise conceptual models of ecological phenomena.


Guiding Scientific Discovery with Explanations Using DEMUD

AAAI Conferences

In the era of large scientific data sets, there is an urgent need for methods to automatically prioritize data for review. At the same time, for any automated method to be adopted by scientists, it must make decisions that they can understand and trust. In this paper, we propose Discovery through Eigenbasis Modeling of Uninteresting Data (DEMUD), which uses principal components modeling and reconstruction error to prioritize data. DEMUDโ€™s major advance is to offer domain-specific explanations for its prioritizations. We evaluated DEMUDโ€™s ability to quickly identify diverse items of interest and the value of the explanations it provides. We found that DEMUD performs as well or better than existing class discovery methods and provides, uniquely, the first explanations for why those items are of interest. Further, in collaborations with planetary scientists, we found that DEMUD (1) quickly identifies very rare items of scientific value, (2) maintains high diversity in its selections, and (3) provides explanations that greatly improve human classification accuracy.


Epistemology of Modeling and Simulation: How can we gain Knowledge from Simulations?

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that deals with gaining knowledge. It is closely related to ontology. The branch that deals with questions like "What is real?" and "What do we know?" as it provides these components. When using modeling and simulation, we usually imply that we are doing so to either apply knowledge, in particular when we are using them for training and teaching, or that we want to gain new knowledge, for example when doing analysis or conducting virtual experiments. This paper looks at the history of science to give a context to better cope with the question, how we can gain knowledge from simulation. It addresses aspects of computability and the general underlying mathematics, and applies the findings to validation and verification and development of federations. As simulations are understood as computable executable hypotheses, validation can be understood as hypothesis testing and theory building. The mathematical framework allows furthermore addressing some challenges when developing federations and the potential introduction of contradictions when composing different theories, as they are represented by the federated simulation systems.


Shikake as Affordance and Curation in Chance Discovery

AAAI Conferences

In this paper first I introduce curation and affordance in chance discovery. According to Matsumura's definition, a shikake is a trigger to start a certain action or to change person's mind and behaviour. As a result of the action, all or part of problem will be solved. A chance and shikake are in a certain sense similar. In addition, affrodance seems to play a significant role in shikakeology. From the point I will discuss the relationships between chance discovery and Shikakeology.


Discovery Informatics: AI Opportunities in Scientific Discovery

AAAI Conferences

Artificial Intelligence researchers have long sought to understand and replicate processes of scientific discovery. This article discusses Discovery Informatics as an emerging area of research that builds on that tradition and applies principles of intelligent computing and information systems to understand, automate, improve, and innovate processes of scientific discovery.