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AIList Digest Volume 6 Issue 003
AIList Digest Saturday, 9 Jan 1988 Volume 6 : Issue 3
Today's Topics:
Queries - Software Engineering & Expert System Shell Survey &
TRC Expert System & Planning for Games & Expert Systems &
Commercial products Based on Neural Nets & Spang Robinson Report &
sci.psych,
Announcements - Non-Classical Logics Bulletin &
TINLAP3 Position Papers & Error in Concurrent Prolog Book Announcement,
Philosophy - Methodology & Biological Models
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 87 11:03 PST
From: andy trumble <trumble@nprdc.arpa>
Subject: Software Engineering
Request for titles:
I am looking for references dealing
with software engineering techniques
with object orientated programming.
However, I'll settle for anything
that discusses good programming
practice with Lisp and/or Flavors.
I'll be happy to pass on information
to interested parties.
Thanks
Andy Trumble
Trumble@NPRDC
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 4-JAN-1988 15:20:31.43 EST
From: Tony Stylianou <styliano%KENTVMS.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: Survey announcement
Center for Information Systems
Graduate School of Management
Kent State University
* SURVEY ANNOUNCEMENT NOTICE *
Request for Survey Participation
--------------------------------
The Kent State University Center for Information Systems is conducting a study
on the use of Expert System Shells. The main objectives of this research are:
1. To categorize ES Shell applications;
2. To identify success criteria for each application category; and
3. To develop an ES Shell Evaluation Model
The results of our study will be presented at AI sessions of Information
Systems Conferences and will also be submitted for publication in MIS
and ES journals. A summary of the results will be made available to all
recipients upon request.
The questionnaires will be mailed out around the end of January. We hope
to have the completed forms back within the month of February.
To obtain a questionnaire please send a request with your mailing address
to:
Tony Stylianou
Center for Information Systems
Graduate School of Management
Kent State University
Kent, Ohio 44242
(216) 672- 2750
or via BITNET to:
BITNET"STYLIANO@KENTVMS.BITNET"
------------------------------
Date: 4 Jan 88 18:56:30 GMT
From: grc!don@csd1.milw.wisc.edu (Donald D. Woelz)
Subject: TRC Expert System
My recent request for information on a PD expert system led to
responses indicating that a piece of software called TRC might
be to my liking. This was posted in Volume 3 of comp.sources.unix
but that was before our machine was on the network.
Does anyone out there have a copy of this software that I can
obtain through a UUCP connection?
Please email me with information on how I might obtain this
software.
Thanks to all those who responded to my previous request.
--
Don Woelz {ames, rutgers, harvard}!uwvax!uwmcsd1!grc!don
GENROCO, Inc. Phone: 414-644-8700
205 Kettle Moraine Drive North Fax: 414-644-6667
Slinger, WI 53086 Telex: 6717062
------------------------------
Date: 7 Jan 88 09:35:38 GMT
From: moran@YALE-ZOO.ARPA (William L. Moran Jr.)
Subject: Planning for games
I'm looking for references to planning as it relates to game playing,
for games other than chess. I would appreciate any references. Might
as well make this via E-mail, and I'll summarize if there is any
interest. Thanks.
William L. Moran Jr.
moran@{yale.arpa, cs.yale.edu, yalecs.bitnet} ...{ihnp4!hsi,decvax}!yale!moran
Stories of tortures
Used by debauchers,
Lurid, licentious, and vile,
Make me smile. :) Tom Lehrer
------------------------------
Date: 5 Jan 88 14:43:26 GMT
From: wp3b01!rfc@uunet.uu.net (4115)
Subject: Expert Systems
Subject : Expert Shell Analysis
Request : Share mutual knowledge, experience, problems, and expertise
in using ES in the area of software development.
Discuss 1:
I am currently developing an in-house seminar for the purpose
of promoting interest and use of ES programs for analysis of
software development, prototyping (vaporware), real-time data
analysis, and decision support for large batch processes.
Discuss 2:
I am most concerned with the role of the knowledge engineer
and the requirements of that individual to function with the
most effectiveness. I see that this individual may very well
be the most critical link in the process of applying an ES
Shell to a particular problem.
Discuss 3:
I intend to provide details of a sample shell that give insight
to the internal functions of the program, how rules are read,
certainty factors, probability, backward chaining, forward
chaining, etc. I will probably even exceed my ability to
provide all the answers that someone may ask questions about.
Hopefully, an in-depth probe of ES will encourage others to
reach out and get involved with this concept of programming.
Summary :
In the event that you feel inclined to share this endeavor,
I will be most happy to provide you with the results of my
efforts. Please feel free to call, write, or mail.
Conclude :
Thank you for your kind consideration of this note.
Signature:
Robert F. Crandall
1 No. Lexington Ave
White Plains, NY 10601
914-397-4115
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 88 05:33 PST
From: nesliwa%nasamail@ames.arc.nasa.gov (NANCY E. SLIWA)
Subject: Commercial products based on neural nets?
I've had a request for information about the existence of any commercial
products based on neural net technology. Not to develop neural net
applications, like HNC and Sigma neurocomputers, but actual products
that use neuromimetic approaches.
I've heard/read somewhere long since about two things:
(1) a California-based product for processor board layout
(2) a McLean, VA-based company that has been selling neural-based
products since the 60's
Does anyone know the specifics of these items, and/or especially any
other examples? Please respond to me directly, and I'll summarize to
the list. Thanks!
Nancy Sliwa
MS 152D
NASA Langley Research Center
Hampton, VA 23665-5225
804/865-3871
nesliwa%nasamail@ames.arpa or nancy@grasp.cis.upenn.edu
------------------------------
Date: 4 Jan 88 13:48 -0600
From: Mike Attas <attas%wnre.aecl.cdn%ubc.csnet@RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: Spangggg!
A quick question: how does one go about obtaining these Spang-Robinson
reports (e.g. Vol.3, no.12 on Expert Systems tools and the evaluation of
PC Expert Systems)? What do they cost? I'm at attas@wnre.aecl.cdn.
Thanks for your help. Michael Attas
Atomic Energy of Canada
Pinawa, Manitoba R0E 1L0
[I've forwarded this to the publisher, LouRobinson@SRI.COM. -- KIL]
------------------------------
Date: 8 Jan 88 08:21:34 GMT
From: uhccux!todd@humu.nosc.mil (The Perplexed Wiz)
Subject: time for sci.psych???
It's been at least three or four years since I last saw an attempt to
create a newsgroup devoted to psychology. So, I thought I'd test the
waters once more. A few weeks ago, I tested the waters by asking the
readers of sci.med if they would be interested in a new group called
'sci.psych'. I received about a dozen 'yeas' and no 'nays' in
response to that water testing query.
If created, I see 'sci.psych' as a group for discussions that are in
the cracks between: comp.ai, comp.cog-eng, misc.kids, misc.legal,
news.groups, sci.bio, sci.lang, sci.math.stat, sci.med, sci.misc,
sci.philosophy.tech, sci.research, soc.college, soc.culture.misc,
soc.misc, talk.philosophy.misc.
'sci.psych' would be a forum for discussions on topics such as visual
illusions and their explanations; psychopathology [etiology,
diagnosis, treatment, etc.]; cognitive development theories and their
implications for child rearing, education, and artificial
intelligence; the difference between the legal definition of insanity
and the psychological "definitions" of mental disorder; animal
communication; the problems in selecting appropriate statistical tests
in social-behavioral studies and experiments; intelligence testing;
cross-cultural differences...etc.
If you are interested in seeing a newsgroup where discussions such as
these can take place, please MAIL ME YOUR VOTES (please, do not post
your votes to any of the newsgroups!) before February 8. The USENET
voting convention requires that there be at least 100 more 'yea' votes
than 'nay' votes, so please vote if you would like to see 'sci.psych'
created.
[BTW: I was told that there is an INET group called 'sci.psychology'
which some USENET sites already receive. If 'sci.psych' is created, I
would be interested in seeing an INET feed from 'sci.psychology' into
'sci.psych'.]
Please mail your votes to one of the addresses given below.
Thank you...todd
--
Todd Ogasawara, U. of Hawaii Faculty Development Program
UUCP: {ihnp4,uunet,ucbvax,dcdwest}!sdcsvax!nosc!uhccux!todd
ARPA: uhccux!todd@nosc.MIL BITNET: todd@uhccux
INTERNET: todd@uhccux.UHCC.HAWAII.EDU
------------------------------
Date: 6 Jan 88 19:09:47 GMT
From: mcvax!inria!geocub!farinas@uunet.uu.net (Luis Farinas)
Subject: Non-classical logics bulletin announcement
BULLETIN ANNOUNCEMENT
=====================
-The applications of non-classical logics in Artificial Intelligence
have become more and more popular.
-Many automated proof procedures have been developed for these logics.
-There are no natural means of exchanging information quickly about
them (e.g. epistemic logics, temporal logics, deontic logics, logics ot theory
of change, non-monotonic logics ...)
Therefore :
We plan to edit an informal bulletin on applied non-classical
logics and proof methods for them containing:
(1) short communications about current research work (1-2 pages)
(2) abstracts of papers
(3) presentations of research groups and projects
(4) information about seminars, workshops, conferences.
If you are interested in this enterprise, please send to one of us the
relevant information. If you would like to receive (free) this Bulletin
please send to one of us your name and direction and we shall put you on the
mailing list.
Please distribute this information among your colleagues.
Ewa ORLOWSKA Luis FARINAS DEL CERRO
Polish Academy of Sciences Universite Paul Sabatier
P.O. Box 22, 00-901 Warsaw Langages et Systemes Informatiques
Poland 31062 Toulouse cedex - France
e-mail: geocub!farinas on uucp
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 88 20:49:02 est
From: walker@flash.bellcore.com (Don Walker)
Subject: TINLAP3 Position Papers available from ACL
TINLAP-3 POSITION PAPERS AVAILABLE FROM ACL
The Association for Computational Linguistics has just published the
Position Papers prepared for TINLAP-3, the Third Conference on
Theoretical Issues in Natural Language Processing. TINLAP-3 was
organized by Yorick Wilks and held at New Mexico State University, 7-9
January 1987. There were sessions on "Words and World
Representations," "Unification and the New Grammatism," "Connectionist
and Other Parallel Approaches to Natural Language Processing,"
"Discourse Theory and Speech Acts," "Why Has Theoretical NLP Made so
Little Progress?," "Formal Versus Common Sense Semantics," "Reference:
The Interaction of Language and the World," "Metaphor," "Natural
Language Generation." Many of the papers in this proceedings were
revised by their authors following the meeting, so it is different from
the one distributed there. The price is $20 for ACL personal and
student members, $30 for individual nonmembers, and $40 for
institutions. Copies are available from the ACL Office: D.E. Walker
(ACL), Bell Communications Research, 435 South Street - MRE 2A379,
Morristown, NJ 07960-1961, USA.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 88 9:50:04 PST
From: Kahn.pa@Xerox.COM
Subject: Error in Concurrent Prolog Book Announcement
Message from Udi Shapiro
If this can still be fixed, then the catalog number for vol. 2 is
19267-5, and not 19257-5,
and the table of content should read:
Foreword by Kazuhiro Fuchi, not just Foreword.
[...]
Udi
------------------------------
Date: 30 Dec 87 12:10 PST
From: hayes.pa@Xerox.COM
Subject: Methodology
Im sure this is not going to convince Mike Sellers, but his comments suggest an
obvious response. Of course its true that
>the problem for most active researchers is one of scale: you cannot >possibly
hope to create a program that models human cognitive >processing, and you have
to get *something* running, so you set your >sights a little lower
The issue is whether one feels that the best approach to understanding human
cognition is to approximate it by looking at parts of it, as in `classical AI',
or by looking at the behavior
> of a flatworm or a sea slug
Personally, I put my money on the former.
Pat Hayes
------------------------------
Date: 30 Dec 87 10:34:00 EDT
From: wallacerm@afwal-aaa.arpa
Reply-to: <wallacerm@afwal-aaa.arpa>
Subject: Biological Models, Their Real Value for AI
In attempts to reconcile the vast amount of information that is being said on
the topic of biological modeling I do not hear mention of the de facto
requirements of all living organisms. These are: greed, fear, pain, and
pleasure. From my observations on the experiments performed on vertebrates
and resolution of the experimenters results, I find that these drives are
foremost in control of all situations that the subject undergoes. I am not a
terminology bigot, so if you have an equivalent word that caries the same
semantic content, for greed, fear, pain, and pleasure substitute it for the
remainder of this squib!
To elaborate, each organism -- once given that spark of electrochemical
activity -- demonstrates a multilevel control structure that is geared for
immediate survival. Fright of the new environment (which is often cooler than
a womb or clutch of eggs) stimulates the next control structure of search for
heat. The pain of hunger causes the search for food. Once heat and food are
found the characteristics of pleasure and greed (desire for all the food and
heat that is available) start. By now you've noticed that I've glossed over
what are called the instincts, the innate abilities, of the organism that
control all the electromechanical operations of the organism. I will return
to these, but first it is important to concentrate on the characteristics
enumerated above. An organism's life is constantly, intrusively altered by
its "mother." I quote mother as it is generally the female of the species,
but doesn't always have to be female past birth or the laying of the egg
(reptiles, fish, birds). This is an important concept that we often fail to
recognize. This is an extremely interactive phased development of the
organism's learning process; its "self" is intruded and it learns to accept
stimuli from another source other that its inanimate environment.
With these four characteristics, the phases of newborn, infant, pass with much
teaching for the organism's "mother" and environment (niche). These phases
have no definite time span, and vary per phylum, family, genus, and species.
What is taught, of course varies, and is highly dependent on environment.
Once the organism has achieved a certain autonomous status its basic four
characteristics drive it in its life.
Returning now to the instincts. I have noticed that there is an expectation
that the AI community puts on its silicon based electronic, electromechanical
"protoplasm;" and that is that it has connections, but no initial "program-
ming!" I feel that this is quite silly, as all of the expected higher mental
functions are formed by experience/interaction with the "mother" and environ-
ment (ignoring societal interaction for the moment). The state-of-the-art is
still at the instincts stage. We are therefore expecting a non-instinctive,
non-greedy, non-pain feeling, non-pleasure feeling, non-fearing lump of
connections to "boot," via our programming to a state past the infant phase!
I feel that this is a gross error in our hypothesis on trying to get
non-biological machines to learn. In our experiments here with a one neuron
model, the four characteristics proved to be crucial to the development of an
"organism" that could learn.
Turning our attention to the task at hand -- creation of expert systems,
consciousness, and generally a context adaptive decision making entity -- we
must first concentrate on the learning. To do this we must insert the de
facto characteristics. Easily said, now how does one do such a thing?
Remembering that we are in fear of pain from our greedy pain or pleasure
giving task masters (a.k.a. "mom") for whom we work; this can be a time and
resource sink in a development process. Hence we tend not to concentrate on
putting in a baseline of characteristics, but instead try to get our
"brain-damaged" systems to exhibit some set of output for some set of input.
First there must be a baseline. "Baseline," is defined as, "The point at
which infancy ends, and autonomy begins."
We are all versed in the concepts, operation and use of virtual, multiprocess-
ing, multiprocessor (any function not supported by the CPU), systems. To
quote the comic strip character Pogo, "We have met the enemy, and they are
us!" because we have these physical items innate. Any neurologists care to
comment? Our second definition is computer. "Computer" is defined as, "The
silicon based, electrically stimulated machine that has computational and
logic (boolean expected, others accepted) capability." To baseline our
computer in the characteristics that are necessary is quite a task. Here I am
going to stop this message as I hope that it will stimulate a response from
the reading community. I have my own opinions and results, but as to not
prejudice the respondents reply, I will not include them yet. Instead I will
leave the following question for your rumination.
How is a computer to be baselined with the characteristics of greed, fear,
pain, and pleasure for it to learn a higher task/function?
Richard M. Wallace
AFWAL/AADE
Wright-Patterson, AFB, OH 45433
ARPA: <wallacerm@afwal-aaa.arpa>
------------------------------
End of AIList Digest
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