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NL-KR Digest Volume 02 No. 15
NL-KR Digest (3/18/87 16:17:13) Volume 2 Number 15
Today's Topics:
conference report: SUNY Buffalo Graduate Conference on CS
AI and Law Conference Program and Registration Info
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Date: Fri, 13 Mar 87 14:19:45 EST
From: "William J. Rapaport" <rapaport%buffalo.csnet@RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: conference report
SECOND ANNUAL SUNY BUFFALO GRADUATE CONFERENCE ON COMPUTER SCIENCE
William J. Rapaport
Department of Computer Science
SUNY Buffalo
Buffalo, NY 14260
rapaport@buffalo.csnet
On 10 March 1987, the graduate students in the Department of Computer
Science at SUNY Buffalo held their second annual Graduate Conference on
Computer Science. (For a report on the first one, see SIGART No. 99,
pp. 22-24.) This time, the conference took on an international flavor,
with talks by graduate students from the University of Toronto and the
University of Rochester, in addition to talks by our own students. Once
again, the conference was flawlessly mounted. The conference was
sponsored by the SUNY Buffalo Department of Computer Science, the SUNY
Buffalo Computer Science Graduate Student Association, the SUNY Buffalo
Graduate Student Association, and the Niagara Frontier Chapter of the
ACM. Approximately 150 people from area colleges and industry attended.
A SUNY Buffalo Department of Computer Science Technical Report with
extended abstracts of the talks (James Geller & Keith Bettinger (eds.),
_UBGCSS-87: Proceedings of the Second Annual UB Graduate Conference on
Computer Science_, Technical Report 87-04, March 1987) is available by
contacting the chair of the organizing committee, Scott Campbell,
Department of Computer Science, SUNY Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260,
campbl@buffalo.csnet. Following are the [edited - B] abstracts of the talks.
Ted F. Pawlicki
SUNY Buffalo
"The Representation of Visual Knowledge"
This paper reports on preliminary research into the representation of
knowledge necessary for visual recognition. The problem is broken down
into three parts: the actual knowledge that needs to be represented,
the form that the representation should take, and how the knowledge
itself and its representation should combine to facilitate the visual
recognition task. The knowledge chosen to represent is a formalization
of the theory of Recognition by Component. The representation chosen is
a semantic network.
Ching-Huei Wang
SUNY Buffalo
"ABLS: An Object Recognition System for Locating Address Blocks on Mail Pieces"
ABLS (Address Block Location System), a system for locating address
blocks on mail pieces, represents both a specific solution to postal
automation and a general framework for coordinating a collection of
specialized image-processing tools to opportunistically detect objects
in images. Images that ABLS deals with range from those having a high
degree of global spatial structure (e.g., carefully prepared letter mail
envelopes which conform to specifications) to those with no structure
(e.g., magazines with randomly pasted address labels). Its
problem-solving architecture is based on the blackboard model and
utilizes a dependency graph, knowledge rules, and a blackboard.
Diane Horton and Graeme Hirst
University of Toronto
"Presuppositions as Beliefs: A New Approach"
Most existing theories of presupposition implicitly assume that
presuppositions are facts and that all agents involved in a discourse
share belief in the presuppositions that it generates. We argue that
these assumptions are unrealistic and can be eliminated by treating
each presupposition as the belief of an agent. We describe a new model,
including an improved definition of presupposition, that takes this
approach. The new model is more realistic and can handle cases of
presupposition projection that could not be handled otherwise.
Norman D. Wahl and Susan E. Miller
SUNY Buffalo
"Hypercube Algorithms to Determine Geometric Properties of Digitized Pictures"
This research focuses on implementing algorithms to solve geometric
problems of digitized pictures on hypercube multiprocessors.
Specifically, in this paper, we present algorithms and paradigms for
solving the connected component labeling problem. Work is ongoing to
complete implementations of these algorithms and obtain running times on
the Intel iPSC and Ncube hypercubes. The goal of this study is to
determine under what circumstances (if any) each of the various
algorithms is most appropriate.
Deborah Walters and Ganapathy Krishnan
SUNY Buffalo
"Bottom-up Image Analysis for Color Separation"
A system for automatic color separation for use in the printing industry
is described. The goal of this research was to automate the
labor-intensive preprocessing required before a graphics system can
process the image. This system makes no assumptions about the semantic
content of the image. The processing is entirely bottom-up and is based
on image features used by the human visual system during the early
stages of processing. The image is convolved with oriented edge
operators, and the responses are stored in the Rho-Space representation.
A number of parallel operations are performed in Rho-Space, and the
image is segmented into perceptually significant parts, which can then
be colored using an interactive graphics system.
Bart Selman
University of Toronto
"Vivid Representations and Analogues"
Levesque introduced the notion of a vivid knowledge representation. A
vivid scheme contains complete knowledge in a tractable form. A closely
related concept is that of an analogical representation or analogue.
Sloman characterizes analogues as representations that are in some sense
direct models of the domain, as opposed to representations consisting of
a description in some general language. The prototypical example of an
analogical representation is a pictorial representation, which is also
an important source of vivid knowledge. We are studying these types of
representations for their possible application in computationally
tractable knowledge-representation systems. In particular, we are
studying how information in a non-analogical (or non-vivid) form can be
translated into an analogical (or vivid) form, using for example
defaults and prototypes. This talk will cover the properties of vivid
and analogical representations, a description of their relationship to
each other, and some initial ideas on the translation process.
Soteria Svorou
SUNY Buffalo
"The Semantics of Spatial Extension Terms in Modern Greek"
In recent years, there have been increasing efforts to uncover the
nature of the human mind by studying the structure of its building
blocks: concepts. Partaking in this enterprise, this study explores
the domain of spatial extension categories by looking at the way
language treats them. It shows that lexical contrasts of Modern Greek
in the domain of spatial extension reflect the perceptual strategies of
"orientation" and "Gestalt" and their interaction with the concept of
"boundedness", which speakers employ in the description of everyday
objects.
Josh D. Tenenberg and Leo B. Hartman
University of Rochester
"Naive Physics and the Control of Inference"
Hayes proposed the naive physics program in order eventually to
address problems involving the control of inference. At the time of the
proposal, progress toward solutions of these problems seemed impeded by
the lack of a well-defined body of knowledge of challenging size. The
building of a formally interpretable encoding of the common-sense
knowledge that people use to deal with the physical world seemed to fill
this need. It was argued that the knowledge be expressed in first-order
logic or an equivalent language in order to separate declarative
information from control information. We argue here that no finite
encoding of a formal theory can be completely separated from control
choices by virtue of there being well-defined measures of the depth of a
theorem in the deductive closure of a theory. In addition, any control
choice is a commitment to a particular set of statistical properties of
the problems an agent faces, and the measurement of such properties is
required to evaluate these choices.
Zhigang Xiang
SUNY Buffalo
"Multi-Level Model-Based Diagnostic Reasoning"
Diagnostic systems capable of reasoning from _functional_ and
_structural_ knowledge are _model-based_ systems. The uniqueness of our
work is that problems of diagnosis that need not only functional and
_logical_ structural knowledge but also _spatial_ structural knowledge
are to be the focus. Towards this goal, we propose a framework for
organizing, representing, and reasoning with an integrated knowledge
base that includes multiple levels of abstraction of the physical
system. More specifically, a physical system is decomposed into
physical and logical components. Analogical (geometrical) and
propositional (topological) spatial structural information are
associated with physical components. The latter is mutually related to
logical components. Functional relationships are established between
logical components. Logical reasoning infers the functional status of
logical components, whereas spatial reasoning performs fault
localization. The framework is carried out using semantic-network
representations. The implementation is independent of any given domain
of application. The system, when given a description of a physical
system's spatial structure, logical structure, and functional
relationships between logical components, performs logical as well as
spatial reasoning to locate faulty components, lesions, etc., from
symptoms and findings. Domain-specific examples include circuitry fault
localization and neuroanatomic localization.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 13 Mar 87 19:05:57 EST
From: hafner%corwin.ccs.northeastern.edu@RELAY.CS.NET
Subject: AI and Law Conference Program and Registration Info
The First
International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Law
May 27-29, 1987
Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts
Sponsored by: The Center for Law and Computer Science
Northeastern University
In Co-operation with ACM SIGART
Schedule of Activities:
----------------------
Wednesday, May 27
8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. - Tutorials
2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. - Research Presentations (see list below)
7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. - Welcoming Reception - NU Faculty Center
Thursday and Friday, May 28-29
8:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. - Research Presentations (continued)
Thursday evening, May 28 - 7:00 p.m. - Gala Banquet at the Colonnade Hotel
Tutorials:
---------
A. "Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (For Lawyers)." Edwina L. Rissland,
Associate Professor of Computer and Information Sciences, University of
Massachusetts at Amherst, and Lecturer in Law, Harvard Law School, will
present the fundamentals of AI from the perspective of a legal expert.
B. "Applying Artificial Intelligence to Law: Opportunities and Challenges."
Donald H. Berman, Richardson Professor of Law, and Carole D. Hafner,
Associate Professor of Computer Science, Northeastern University, will
survey the past accomplishments and current goals of research in AI and Law.
Panels:
------
"The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Legal System." Moderated by Cary
G. deBessonet, Director of the Law and Artificial Intelligence Project,
Louisiana State Law Institute.
"Modeling the Legal Reasoning Process: Formal and Computational Approaches."
Moderated by L. Thorne McCarty, Professor of Computer Science and Law, Rutgers
University.
List of Research Presentations: (final schedule is not yet determined)
------------------------------
[Edited -B]
"Expert Systems in Law: The Datalex Project"
Graham Greenleaf, Andrew Mowbray, Alan L. Tyree
Faculty of Law, University of Sydney, AUSTRALIA
"The Application of Expert Systems Technology to Case-Based Law"
J.C. Smith, Cal Deedman
Faculty of Law, University of British Columbia, CANADA
"Legal Reasoning in 3-D"
Marvin Belzer
Advanced Computational Methods Center
University of Georgia, USA
"Explanation for an Expert System that Performs Estate Planning"
Dean A. Schlobohm, Donald A. Waterman
Moraga, California, USA
"Expert Systems in Law: Out of the Research Laboratory and into the
Marketplace"
Richard E. Susskind
Ernst & Whinney
London, ENGLAND
"An Expert System for Screening Employee Pension Plans for the
Internal Revenue Service"
Gary Grady, Ramesh S. Patil
Internal Revenue Service
Washington, D.C. USA
"Conceptual Legal Document Retrieval Using the RUBRIC System"
Richard M. Tong, Clifford A. Reid, Peter R. Douglas, Gregory J. Crowe
Advanced Decision Systems
Mountain View, California USA
"Conceptual Retrieval and Case Law"
Judith P. Dick
Faculty of Library and Information Science, University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario CANADA
"Conceptual Organization of Case Law Knowledge Bases"
Carole D. Hafner
The Center for Law and Computer Science, Northeastern University
Boston, Massachusetts USA
"A Case-Based System for Trade Secrets Law"
Edwina L. Rissland Kevin D. Ashley
Department of Computer and Information Science,
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts USA
"But, See, Accord: Generating Blue Book Citations in HYPO"
Kevin D. Ashley, Edwina L. Rissland
Department of Computer and Information Science
University of Massachusetts, Amherst Massachusetts USA
"A Connectionist Approach to Conceptual Information Retrieval"
Richard K. Belew
Computer Science and Engineering Department, Univ. of California
San Diego, California USA
"System = Program + Programmers + Law"
Naftaly H. Minsky, David Rozenshtein
Department of Computer Science, Rutgers University
New Brunswick, New Jersey USA
"A Natural Language Based Legal Expert System Project for Consultation
and Tutoring -- The LEX Project"
F. Haft, R.P. Jones, Th. Wetter
IBM Heidelberg Scientific Centre
Heidelberg, WEST GERMANY
"Handling of Significant Deviations from Boilerplate Text in the SPADES
System"
Gary Morris, Keith Taylor, Maury Harwood
Internal Revenue Service
Washington, D.C. USA
"Legal Data Modeling: The Prohibited Transaction Exemption Analyst"
Keith Bellairs
Management Science Department, University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
"Designing Text Retrieval Systems for `Conceptual Searching'"
Jon Bing
Norwegian Research Center for Computers and Law
Oslo, NORWAY
"Experiments Using Expert Systems Technology for Teaching Law: Special
Knowledge Representation Approaches in DEFAULT and EVAN"
Roger D. Purdy
School of Law, The University of Akron
Akron, Ohio USA
"OBLOG-2: A Hybrid Knowledge Representation System for Defeasible Reasoning"
Thomas F. Gordon
FS-INFRE, GMD
Sankt Augustin, WEST GERMANY
"ESPLEX: A Rule and Conceptual Model for Representing Statutes"
Carlo Biogioli, Paola Mariana, Daniela Tiscornia
Istituto per la Documentazione Giuridica
Florence, ITALY
"A PROLOG Model of the Income Tax Act of Canada"
David M. Sherman
Maintnix Services
Thornhill, Ontario CANADA
"Some Problems in Designing Expert Systems to Aid Legal Reasoning"
Layman E. Allen, Charles S. Saxon
Law School, The University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan USA
"Precedent-Based Legal Reasoning and Knowledge Acquisition in Contract Law:
A Process Model"
Seth R. Goldman, Michael G. Dyer, Margot Flowers
Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California USA
"Logic Programming for Large Scale Applications in Law: A Formalism of
Supplementary Benefit Legislation"
T.J.M. Bench-Capon, G.O. Robinson, T.W. Routen, M.J. Sergot
Department of Computing, Imperial College
London, ENGLAND
___________________________________________________________________________
Program Committee Conference Information
----------------- ----------------------
L.Thorne McCarty, Chair Prof. Carole D. Hafner, Conference Chair
Donald H. Berman (617) 437-5116
Michael G. Dyer Ms. Rita Laffey, Registration
Anne v.d. L. Gardner (617) 437-3346
Edwina L. Rissland
Marek J. Sergot
Housing Information
-------------------
Special Conference Rates are available at the following hotels:
(Mention "Northeastern University Computers and Law Conference")
1. The Colonnade Hotel - $75 single/$95 double + tax ($8 parking)
120 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA (617) 424-7000
2. The Midtown Hotel - $58 single/$63 double + tax (includes free parking)
220 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA (617) 262-1000 or 1-800-343-1177
Both of these hotels are less than a 10-minute walk from the Conference.
Rooms have also been arranged at Boston University dormitories, a
20-minute walk from the conference, or a 10-minute bus ride and a 5-minute
walk. The rates are $29 single/$24 (per person) double. To reserve a
room in the dormitory, use the attached registration form.
SPACE IS LIMITED - RESERVE EARLY!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
REGISTRATION FORM
Make checks payable to:
Name____________________________________ Northeastern University - ICAIL
Address_________________________________ Mail to:
________________________________________ The Center for Law and Computer Sci.
________________________________________ Northeastern University
________________________________________ Boston, MA 02115
Conference Registration Fee (does not include tutorial or banquet)
Regular Full-time Student Amt. Enclosed
------- -----------------
Received by April 20 $95 $55
Received after April 20 $135 $85 __________
Gala Banquest - May 28 ($40/person) Number of tickets __ __________
Tutorial Fee: ($50 with conference registration $100 otherwise) __________
Tutorial (select one):
__ A. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (For Lawyers)
__ B. Applying Artificial Intelligence to Law: Opporunities
and Challenges
Dormitory Reservations:
Arrival Date: ______ Departure Date: _______ Number of Nights _____
Type of Room: Single__ Double __
If double, please indicate sex, and smoking/non-smoking, or give
name of pre-arranged room-mate __________________________________
Dormitory Fee ($29/night single, $24/night double) __________
TOTAL AMOUNT ENCLOSED __________
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End of NL-KR Digest
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