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Subject: AIList Digest   V3 #181
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AIList Digest            Tuesday, 3 Dec 1985      Volume 3 : Issue 181

Today's Topics:
  Seminars - Truth Maintenance and Multiple Worlds in KEE (SU) &
    Model and Temporal Proof System for Processes (CMU) &
    Reasoning about Control in Vision (SRI) &
    An Approach to Conscious Experience (UCB),
  Conferences - Expert Systems and Their Applications &
    Knowledge and Data &
    Workshop on AI for Design Automation

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon 2 Dec 85 08:54:31-PST
From: Anne Richardson <[email-masked]>
Subject: Seminar - Truth Maintenance and Multiple Worlds in KEE (SU)

DAY         December 3, 1985
EVENT       Computer Science Colloquium
PLACE       Skilling Auditorium
TIME        4:15
TITLE       "Truth Maintenance and Multiple Worlds in KEE"
PERSON      Paul Morris, Robert Nado, Richard Fikes
FROM        IntelliCorp

              TRUTH, MAINTENANCE AND MULTIPLE WORLDS IN KEE

We describe the integration of an assumption-based truth maintenance
system (ATMS) into the frame-based representation facilities of the
KEE system, and the use of the ATMS to implement a multiple-world
context graph system for KEE.  Integration into the frame system
involves associating with potential slot values ATMS nodes that are
used to determine in which worlds (contexts) the slot values are
believed.  Built-in inferences provided by the frame system, such as
inheritance and the checking of value class and cardinality
constraints, are recorded, when needed, as explicit justifications in
the ATMS.  In addition, the default reasoning capabilities of KEE have
been refined and extended to take advantage of the ATMS.  Tradeoffs in
the integration between flexibility of use and run-time efficiency are
examined.  We describe the multiple-world context graph system with
particular attention to an interpretation of the graph as a network of
actions.  In this framework, the semantics of graph merges are
investigated and restrictions to ensure valid action sequences are
discussed.

------------------------------

Date: 2 December 1985 1654-EST
From: Theona [email-masked]
Subject: Seminar - Model and Temporal Proof System for Processes (CMU)

        Date:   Monday, 9 December
        Place:  5409 WeH
        Time:   3:30

                        PS SEMINAR

      A model and temporal proof system for processes

                       Van Nguyen
         IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center
 (joint work with Alan Demers, David Gries and Susan Owicki)

   There exist several models of processes, e.g. those of
Brock-Ackerman, Hoare, Milner and Pratt. None of these models handles
both synchronous and asynchronous communication in a single framework.
In addition, their modeling of temporal properties
(e.g. liveness properties) is generally unsatisfactory.
The models that seem most promising, due to their
simplicity and ability to hide information, are those based on traces.
A trace is a finite sequence of communication events, which can be
thought of as an abstraction of a process state in which all irrelevant
internal details are hidden.

   A number of proof systems for processes have also been proposed. The
Hoare-like proof systems, e.g. those of Chen-Hoare, Levin-Gries and
Misra-Chandy, are simple but lack expressive power and cannot
deal with temporal properties. Temporal proof systems, e.g. those of
Manna-Pnueli and Barringer-Kuiper-Pnueli, are expressive but more
complicated.

   We present a model for processes that is based on the notion of
behavior (a generalization of trace). The model can handle either
synchronous or asynchronous communication, and can describe temporal
properties. We also describe a sound and complete temporal proof system
that is based on the model. Due to the modularity of the model, the
proof system is compositional. Both the model and proof system are
simple. Thus we show that temporal proof systems can be made

------------------------------

Date: Tue 3 Dec 85 11:44:55-PST
From: [email-masked]
Subject: Seminar - Reasoning about Control in Vision (SRI)

        REASONING ABOUT CONTROL IN A HIGH-LEVEL COMPUTER VISION SYSTEM

                          Leonard Wesley
                    SRI International, AI Center

                    11:00 AM, MONDAY, December 9
       SRI International, Building E, Room EJ228 (new conference room)

If you built an expert system, how would you expect it to decide what to
do next in complex situations? Typically there are several alternative
actions it might take to reach some goal. In some cases, the best alternative
is clear or the choices do not warrant extensive analysis. At times the
consequences of pursuing some action justify expending the effort to obtain
the necessary information to analyze the pros and cons of choosing a
particular alternative.

Most would agree that the information that is needed to reach any decision is,
to some degree, uncertain, imprecise, and occasionally inaccurate (called
"evidential" information). Clearly knowledge about the certainty, precision,
and accuracy of information can be used to improve a system's
ability to reason about (i.e., control) its actions. In this talk, we shall
describe how this might be accomplished by an expert system in the domain
of high-level computer vision. We shall explain why we view Shafer's theory
of belief functions as being better suited than some other models as a
theoretical foundation for representing evidential information and reasoning
about control. Results from a large number of image interpretation
experiments will be presented to demonstrate how a system's performance can be
improved when Shafer's theory is soundly exploited. Finally, we shall briefly
describe how our approach to control might be extended to an evidential-based
framework for planning under uncertainty.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 2 Dec 85 09:43:33 PST
From: [email-masked] (Cognitive Science Program)
Subject: Seminar - An Approach to Conscious Experience (UCB)

                         BERKELEY COGNITIVE SCIENCE PROGRAM
                                     Fall 1985
                        Cognitive Science Seminar - IDS 237A
                         Tuesday, December 3, 11:00 - 12:30
                           240 Bechtel Engineering Center
                    Discussion: 12:30 - 1:30 in 200 Building T-4

                       ``An Approach to Conscious Experience''
                                  Bernard J. Baars
                 Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute, U.C.S.F.

                Conscious experience has been widely viewed as a confusing
           and  ill-defined  issue, and most psychologists have avoided it
           until quite recently.  However, there are straightforward  ways
           to  specify reliable empirical constraints on the problem, sim-
           ply by contrasting comparable pairs of events, one of which  is
           conscious  and  the  other  not.  For example, we are typically
           unconscious of highly  predictable  stimuli,  though  there  is
           strong evidence that such stimuli continue to be represented in
           the nervous system.  We are unconscious of automatized actions,
           of  the unattended stream in a selective attention paradigm, of
           conceptual presuppositions, of the unconscious meaning of  per-
           ceptual  and linguistic ambiguities, of lexical access, syntac-
           tic rule-application, etc.  In all these cases the  unconscious
           information  continues  to  be  represented and processed.  Any
           complete theory of conscious experience is bounded by, and must
           ultimately account for, the entire set of such contrasts.

                The empirical constraints converge on a model of the  ner-
           vous  system  as  a  distributed  collection  of specialists---
           automatic, unconscious, and very efficient.   Consciousness  is
           associated  in this system with a "global workspace"---a memory
           whose contents are broadcast to all the specialists.   Special-
           ists  can  complete  or  cooperate  for  access  to  the global
           workspace, and those that succeed can recruit and control other
           specialists  in  pursuit  of  their goals.  Over the past seven
           years this Global Workspace approach has  been  extended  to  a
           number  of  puzzling  issues,  including action control and the
           neurophysiological basis of consciousness.

------------------------------

Date: Saturday, 30 November 1985 21:06:58 EST
From: [email-masked]
Subject: Conference - Expert Systems and Their Applications

                   SIXTH INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON
                 EXPERT SYSTEMS & THEIR APPLICATIONS

INTRODUCTION

Following  the  success  of  the  5th International Workshop in Expert
Systems and their Applications at the prestigious 14th century fortess
Palace of the Popes in Avigon (France), the Agence  de  l'Informatique
has scheduled the 6th Workshop for April 28-30, 1986.

Papers are solicited which describe expert systems actually applied in
industry,   currently   under   assessment   by  users,  or  currently
commercially available.

INSTRUCTION TO AUTHORS

Five copies of submitted papers (not exceeding 20 pages  in  8  x  11"
camera-ready format) should reach the Workshop Chairman before January
15,  1986.  Papers  may  be  written  either  in  English  or  French.
Simultaneous translation will be provided at the conference.

Submitted papers should include a page with:

   - title of the paper
   - author's name
   - author's address
   - phone number and extension
   - telex number
   - a 10 line abstract
   - a list of key words

All papers will be refereed by  an  international  program  committee;
notification  of  acceptance  will  be given by March 4, 1986.  A best
paper award will be presented at the conference.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Tutorials and panel discussions  are  planned.  Send  suggestions  for
topics to Workshop Chairman at the address indicated.

INFORMATION

For further information contact:
        Jean-Claude Rault
        Workshop Chairman
        Agence de l'Informatique
        Tour Fiat - Cedex 16
        92084 Paris - La Defence
        France
        Tel. (331) 47 96 43 14

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 30 Nov 85 19:05:15 EST
From: "John F. Sowa" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Conference - Knowledge and Data

                                  IFIP

          INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION FOR INFORMATION PROCESSING

                              ANNOUNCEMENT

         TC2 WORKING CONFERENCE organized by Working Group 2.6

                       Knowledge and Data (DS-2)

          November 3-7, 1986 in Albufeira (Algarve), Portugal

Scope:  Questions of meaning are more important for the design
of a knowledge base than methods of encoding data in bits and bytes.
As database designers add more semantic information to their systems,
their conceptual schemata begin to look like AI systems of
knowledge representation.  In recognizing this convergence on issues of
semantics, IFIP Working Group 2.6 is organizing a working conference
on Knowledge and Data.  It will address the issues and problems
of knowledge representation from an interdisciplinary point of view.

Topics:
   Design of a conceptual schema
   Knowledge and data modeling
   Database semantics
   Natural language semantics
   Expert database systems
   Logic, databases, and AI
   Methods of knowledge engineering
   Tools and aids for knowledge acquisition

Invited speakers:
   Herve Gallaire, Germany
   Robert Meersman, Belgium
   J. Alan Robinson, USA
   Roger Schank, USA
   Dana Scott, USA

An IFIP working conference is oriented towards detailed discussion of
the topics presented.  Participation is by invitation, with optional
contribution of a paper that is refereed by the program committee.
Anyone who is interested in participating should send an abstract
of current research or a prospective paper to either of the
program cochairmen.  Abstracts are due March 14, 1986.  Complete
papers are due May 16, 1986.  Papers presented at the conference
will be published in book form by North Holland Publishing Co.

General Chairman:  Amilcar Sernadas, Portugal

Program cochairmen:

   John F. Sowa                         Robert Meersman
   IBM Systems Research Institute       L.U.C. -- Dept. WNIF
   500 Columbus Avenue                  Universitaire Campus
   Thornwood, NY  10594                 B-3610 Diepenbeek
   U.S.A.                               Belgium

   CSNET:  sowa.yktvmt@ibm

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 85 15:58:44 est
From: Scott C McKay <[email-masked]>
Subject: Conference - Workshop on AI for Design Automation

                      FIRST AFWAL* RESEARCH WORKSHOP
                                    TO
                 DEVELOP AND AUTOMATE A SCIENCE OF DESIGN
                                    FOR
                         MILITARY WEAPONS SYSTEMS
                                    VIA
                     APPLIED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

                       Georgia Tech Research Institute
                              Atlanta, Georgia
                              March 24-26, 1986

          The premise of this workshop is that appropriate research can
     create a new, invented Science of Design to support CAE/CAD in a
     CAE/CAD/CAM Military Weapons System Foundry.  A Foundry is required
     for rapid design and production of complex weapons systems demanded by
     changing military mission requirements.  CAE/CAD is viewed as a domain
     of Applied AI called Design Automation (DA), and Design Science is
     considered a subdiscipline of Design Automation.  DA is viewed as a
     totally generic discipline whose domain is both weapons systems and
     their embedded electronics, including multiplatform systems.  The
     discipline of DA incorporates requirements engineering, weapons system
     and subsystem configuration, the design of mission-specific system and
     subsystem functions, signal and data processing algorithm design,
     software engineering (including firmware), multiprocessor and
     processor design, and structural, mechanical, thermal, electrical,
     electromagnetic, and electronics (including analog) engineering.

          For this workshop the domain of DA will be limited to military
     embedded electronics systems (including multiplatform systems).  Within
     this domain the workshop is generic, in that it includes all the
     preceding DA disciplines from requirements engineering to electronics
     engineering.

          The workshop's purpose is to prepare approximately five detailed
     near-term project plans for initial vectoring of DA-relevant research
     towards Weapons System Foundry objectives.  One project plan will
     detail development of a DA Testbed.  Additional special interest
     project plans may also be prepared.

          All workshop attendance expenses are the responsibility of
     attendees, and include a nominal registration fee for lunches and
     refreshments.  Only US citizens will be allowed to attend the
     workshop.  There is no a priori restriction on attendees' technical
     background or employer.  An attendance limit of 40 participants may
     cause rejection of some attendance applications; however, all
     applicants will be provided copies of the draft workshop report for
     review.

          An Attendance Application Package is available on request.  It
     contains a white paper defining AFWAL objectives for long term DA
     technology development, a detailed workshop description, and a
     questionnaire to establish individual applicant's DA-relevant
     qualifications and interests.

          To request an Attendance Application Package please contact:

               Mr Harold Noffke
               AFWAL/AARM-3
               WPAFB OH 45433-6543

               Tel: (513) 255-3655/5097/6071

     *AFWAL stands for Air Force Wright Aeronautical Laboratories.

------------------------------

End of AIList Digest
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