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AIList Digest Volume 1 Issue 113
AIList Digest Friday, 16 Dec 1983 Volume 1 : Issue 113
Today's Topics:
Alert - Temporal Representation & Fuzzy Reasoning
Programming Languages - Phrasal Analysis Paper,
Fifth Generation - Japanese and U.S. Views,
Seminars - Design Verification & Fault Diagnosis
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Date: Wed 14 Dec 83 11:21:47-PST
From: Ken Laws <Laws@SRI-AI.ARPA>
Subject: CACM Alert - Temporal Representation & Fuzzy Reasoning
Two articles in the Nov. issue of CACM (just arrived) may be of
special interest to AI researchers:
"Maintaining Knowledge about Temporal Intervals," by James F. Allen
of the U. of Rochester, is about representation of temporal information
using only intervals -- no points. While this work does not lead to a
fully general temporal calculus, it goes well beyond state space and
date line systems and is more powerful and efficient than event chaining
representations. I can imagine that the approach could be generalized
to higher dimensions, e.g., for reasoning about the relationships of
image regions or objects in the 3-D world.
"Extended Boolean Information Retrieval," by Gerald Salton, Edward A. Fox,
and Harry Wu, presents a fuzzy logic or hierarchical inference method for
dealing with uncertainties when evaluating logical formulas. In a
formula such as ((A and B) or (B and C)), they present evidential
combining formulas that allow for:
* Uncertainty in the truth, reliability, or applicability of the
the primitive terms A and B;
* Differing importance of establishing the primitive term instances
(where the two B terms above could be weighted differently);
* Differing semantics of the logical connectives (where the two
"and" connectives above could be threshold units with different
thresholds).
The output of their formula evaluator is a numerical score. They use
this for ranking the pertinence of literature citations to a database
query, but it could also be used for evidential reasoning or for
evaluating possible worlds in a planning system. For the database
query system, they indicate a method for determining term weights
automatically from an inverted index of the database.
The weighting of the Boolean connectives is based on the infinite set
of Lp vector norms. The connectives and[INF] and or[INF] are the
ones of standard logic; and[1] and or[1] are equivalent and reduce
formula evaluation to a simple weighted summation; intermediate
connective norms correspond to "mostly" gates or weighted neural
logic models. The authors present both graphical illustrations and
logical theorems about these connectives.
-- Ken Laws
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Date: 14 Dec 83 20:05:25-PST (Wed)
From: hplabs!hpda!fortune!phipps @ Ucb-Vax
Subject: Re: Phrasal Analysis Paper/Programming Languages Applications ?
Article-I.D.: fortune.1981
Am I way off base, or does this look as if the VOX project
would be of interest to programming languages (PL) researchers ?
It might be interesting to submit to the next
"Principles of Programming Languages" (POPL) conference, too.
As people turn from traditional programming languages
(is Ada really pointing the way of the future ? <shudder !>) to other ways
(query languages and outright natural language processing)
to obtain and manipulate information and codified knowledge,
I believe that AI and PL people will find more overlap in their ends,
although probably not their respective interests, approaches, and style.
This institutionalized mutual ignorance doesn't benefit either field.
One of these days, AI people and programming languages people
ought to heal their schism.
I'd certainly like to hear more of VOX, and would cheerfully accept delivery
of a copy of your paper (US Mail (mine): PO Box 2284, Santa Clara CA 95055).
My apologies for using the net for a reply, but he's unreachable
thru USENET, and I wanted to make a general point anyhow.
-- Clay Phipps
--
{allegra,amd70,cbosgd,dsd,floyd,harpo,hollywood,hpda,ihnp4,
magic,megatest,nsc,oliveb,sri-unix,twg,varian,VisiA,wdl1}
!fortune!phipps
------------------------------
Date: 12 Dec 83 15:29:10 PST (Monday)
From: Ron Newman <Newman.es@PARC-MAXC.ARPA>
Subject: New Generation computing: Japanese and U.S. views
[The following is a direct submission to AIList, not a reprint.
It has also appeared on the Stanford bboards, and has generated
considerable discussion there. I am distributing this and the
following two reprints because they raise legitimate questions
about the research funding channels available to AI workers. My
distribution of these particular messages should not be taken as
evidence of support for or against military research. -- KIL]
from Japan:
"It is necessary for each researcher in the New Generation Computer
technology field to work for world prosperity and the progress of
mankind.
"I think it is the responsibility of each researcher, engineer and
scientist in this field to ensure that KIPS [Knowledge Information
Processing System] is used for good, not harmful, purposes. It is also
necessary to investigate KIPS's influence on society concurrent with
KIPS's development."
--Tohru Moto-Oka, University of Tokyo, editor of the new journal "New
Generation Computing", in the journal's founding statement (Vol. 1, No.
1, 1983, p. 2)
and from the U.S.:
"If the new generation technology evolves as we now expect, there will
be unique new opportunities for military applications of computing. For
example, instead of fielding simple guided missiles or remotely piloted
vehicles, we might launch completely autonomous land, sea, and air
vehicles capable of complex, far-ranging reconnaissance and attack
misssions. The possibilities are quite startling, and suggest that new
generation computing could fundamentally change the nature of future
conflicts."
--Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, "Strategic Computing:
New Generation Computing Technology: A Strategic Plan for its
Development and Application to Critical Problems in Defense," 28
October 1983, p. 1
------------------------------
Date: 13 Dec 83 18:18:23 PST (Tuesday)
From: Ron Newman <Newman.es@PARC-MAXC.ARPA>
Subject: Re: New Generation computing: Japanese and U.S. views
[Reprinted from the SU-SCORE bboard.]
My juxtaposition of quotations is intended to demonstrate the difference
in priorities between the Japanese and U.S. "next generation" computer
research programs. Moto-Oka is a prime mover behind the Japanese
program, and DARPA's Robert Kahn is a prime mover behind the American
one. Thus I consider the quotations comparable.
To put it bluntly: the Japanese say they are developing this technology
to help solve human and social problems. The Americans say they are
developing this technology to find more efficient ways of killing
people.
The difference in intent is quite striking, and will undoubtedly produce
a "next-generation" repetition of an all too familiar syndrome. While
the U.S. pours yet more money and scientific talent into the military
sinkhole, the Japanese invest their monetary and human capital in
projects that will produce profitable industrial products.
Here are a couple more comparable quotes, both from IEEE Spectrum, Vol.
20, No. 11, November 1983:
"DARPA intends to apply the computers developed in this program to a
number of broad military applications...
"An example might be a pilot's assistant that can respond to spoken
commands by a pilot and carry them out without error, drawing upon
specific aircraft, sensor, and tactical knowledge stored in memory and
upon prodigious computer power. Such capability could free a pilot to
concentrate on tactics while the computer automatically activated
surveillance sensors, interpreted radar, optical, and electronic
intelligence, and prepared appropriate weapons systems to counter
hostile aircraft or missiles....
"Such systems may also help in military assessments on a battlefield,
simulating and predicting the consequences of various courses of
military action and interpreting signals acquired on the battlefield.
This information could be compiled and presented as sophisticated
graphics that would allow a commander and his staff to concentrate on
the larger strategic issues, rather than having to manage the enormous
data flow that will[!] characterize future battles."
--Robert S. Cooper and Robert E. Kahn, DARPA, page 53.
"Fifth generation computers systems are exptected to fulfill four
major roles: (1) enhancement of productivity in low-productivity areas,
such as nonstandardized operations in smaller industries; (2)
conservation of national resources and energy through optimal energy
conversion; (3) establishment of medical, educational, and other kinds
of support systems for solving complex social problems, such as the
transition to a society made up largely of the elderly; and (4)
fostering of international cooperation through the machine translation
of languages."
--Tohru Moto-Oka, University of Tokyo, page 46
Which end result would *you* rather see?
/Ron
------------------------------
Date: Tue 13 Dec 83 21:29:22-PST
From: John B. Nagle <NAGLE@SU-SCORE.ARPA>
Subject: Comparable quotes
[Reprinted from the SU-SCORE bboard.]
The goals of an effort funded by the military will be different
than those of an effort aimed at trade dominance. Intel stayed out of
the DoD VHSIC program because the founder of Intel felt that concentrating
on fast, expensive circuits would be bad for business. He was right.
The VHSIC program is aimed at making a few hundred copies of an IC for
a few thousand each. Concentration on that kind of product will bankrupt
a semiconductor company.
We see the same thing in AI. There is getting to be a mini-industry
built around big expensive AI systems on big expensive computers. Nobody
is thinking of volume. This is a direct consequence of the funding source.
People think in terms of keeping the grants coming in, not selling a
million copies. If money came from something like MITI, there would be
pressure to push forward to a volume product just to find out if there
is real potential for the technology in the real world. Then there would
be thousands of people thinking about the problems in the field, not
just a few hundred.
This is divirging from the main thrust of the previous flame, but
think about this and reply. There is more here than another stab at the
big bad military.
------------------------------
Date: Tue 13 Dec 83 10:40:04-PST
From: Sumit Ghosh <GHOSH@SU-SIERRA.ARPA>
Subject: Ph.D. Oral Examination: Special Seminar
[Reprinted from the SU-SCORE bboard.]
ADA Techniques for Implementing a Rule-Based Generalised Design Verifier
Speaker: Sumit Ghosh
Ph.D. Oral Examination
Monday, 19th Dec '83. 3:30pm. AEL 109
This thesis describes a top-down, rule-based design verifier implemented in
the language ADA. During verification of a system design, a designer needs
several different kinds of simulation tools such as functional simulation,
timing verification, fault simulation etc. Often these tools are implemented
in different languages, different machines thereby making it difficult to
correlate results from different kinds of simulations. Also the system design
must be described in each of the different kinds of simulation, implying a
substantial overhead. The rule-based approach enables one to create different
kinds of simulations, within the same simulation environment, by linking
appropriate type of models with the system nucleus. This system also features
zooming whereby certain subsections of the system design (described at a high
level) can be expanded at a lower level, at run time, for a more detailed
simulation. The expansion process is recursive and should be extended down to
the circuit level. At the present implementation stage, zooming is extended to
gate level simulation. Since only those modules that show discrepancy (or
require detailed analysis) during simulation are simulated in details, the
zoom technique implies a substantial reduction in complexity and CPU time.
This thesis further contributes towards a functional deductive fault simulator
and a generalised timing verifier.
------------------------------
Date: Mon 12 Dec 83 12:46-EST
From: Philip E. Agre <AGRE%MIT-OZ@MIT-MC.ARPA>
Subject: Walter Hamscher at the AI Revolving Seminar
[Reprinted from the MIT-AI bboard.]
AI Revolving Seminar
Walter Hamscher
Diagnostic reasoning for digital devices with static storage elements
Wendesday 14 December 83 4PM
545 Tech Sq 8th floor playroom
We view diagnosis as a process of reasoning from anomalous observations to a
set of components whose failure could explain the observed misbehaviors. We
call these components "candidates." Diagnosing a misbehaving piece of
hardware can be viewed as a process of generating, discriminating among, and
refining these candidates. We wish to perform this diagnosis by using an
explicit representation of the hardware's structure and function.
Our candidate generation methodology is based on the notions of dependency
directed backtracking and local propagation of constraints. This
methodology works well for devices without storage elements such as
flipflops. This talk presents a representation for the temporal behavior of
digital devices which allows devices with storage elements to be treated
much the same as combinatorial devices for the purpose of candidate
generation.
However, the straightforward adaptation requires solutions to subproblems
that are severely underconstrained. This in turn leads to an overly
conservative and not terribly useful candidate generator. There exist
mechanism-oriented solutions such as value enumeration, propagation of
variables, and slices; we review these and then demonstrate what domain
knowledge can be used to motivate appropriate uses of those techniques.
Beyond this use of domain knowledge within the current representation, there
are alternative perspectives on the problem which offer some promise of
alleviating the lack of constraint.
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End of AIList Digest
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