CS2740  Knowledge Representation (ISSP 3712)


Time:  Monday, Wednesday 2:30pm-3:45pm, 
Location: Sennott Square, Room 5313


Instructor:  Milos Hauskrecht
Computer Science Department
5329 Sennott Square
phone: x4-8845
e-mail: milos at cs pitt edu
office hours: Tuesday 1:00-3:00pm

TA:  David Krebs
5324 Sennott Square
e-mail: djk37 at cs pitt edu
office hours: TH 1:15-4:15

Announcements !!!!!


Links

Course description
Lectures
Homeworks
Term projects


Abstract Knowledge representation (KR) is the study of how knowledge about the world can be represented in a computer system and what kinds of reasoning can be done with that knowledge. Challenges of KR and reasoning are representation of commonsense knowledge, the ability of a knowledge-based system to tradeoff computational efficiency for accuracy of inferences, and its ability to represent and manipulate uncertain knowledge and information.

This introductory knowledge representation course will provide an overview of existing representational frameworks developed within AI, their key concepts and inference methods. The course will cover propositional and first-order logics, their object-oriented extensions (frames), temporal logic and reasoning, inheritance relations, probabilistic models for reasoning and decision making, as well as new topics related to Semantic web and knowledge-based ontologies.

Course syllabus

Prerequisites

CS 2710 Foundations of Artificial Intelligence, or equivalent, or the permission of the instructor.


Textbook:


Lectures
 
 
Lectures  Topic(s)  Assignments
August 26 Introduction.

Readings:

. 
September 3 Introduction to LISP.

Readings:

. 
September 8 Introduction to LISP (2nd part)

Readings:

. 
September 10 Propositional logic

Readings:

  • Russell & Norvig (RN): Sections 7.1-7.5.
Homework assignment 1
September 15 Propositional logic II

Readings:

  • Russell & Norvig (RN): Sections 7.5.-7.6.
.
September 17 Propositional logic: Horn clauses

Readings:

  • Russell & Norvig (RN): Sections 7.5, 7.6. and Section 10.7 (negation as failure)
Homework assignment 2
September 15 First order logic

Readings:

  • Russell & Norvig (RN): Section 8.
.
September 24 First order logic II

Readings:

  • Russell & Norvig (RN): Section 8
 Homework assignment 3
September 29 First order logic. Resolution.

Readings:

  • Russell & Norvig (RN): Section 9.
.
October 1 First order logic. Efficient inferences.

Readings:

  • Russell & Norvig (RN): Section 9
 Homework assignment 4
October 6 Production systems. Frame-based representations.

Readings:

  • Russell & Norvig (RN):
.
October 8 Description logic

Readings:

  • Handout distributed during the class. Chapter 9.
.
October 14 Hierarchies and inheritance

Readings:

  • Handout distributed during the class. Chapter 10.
.
October 15 Google talk by Doug Lenat on Cyc project

Readings:

  • Computers versus common sense - Google talk by Doug Lenat
 .
October 20 Planning

Readings:

  • R&N book. Sections 10.3. and 11.1-2.
.
October 22 Planning II.

Readings:

  • R&N book. Sections 11.3.
 Homework assignment 5
October 27 Semantic web

Readings:

.
October 29 Semantic web

Readings:

.
November 3 Midterm exam

Readings:

  • Russell & Norvig, Lecture notes, Readings distributed during the class
.
November 5 Modeling Uncertainty

Readings:

  • Russell & Norvig: Chapter 13
Homework assignment 6
November 10 Bayesian belief networks

Readings:

  • Russell & Norvig: Chapter 13,14
.
November 12 Bayesian belief networks: inferences

Readings:

  • Russell & Norvig: Chapter 14
Homework assignment 7
November 17 Bayesian belief networks: inferences

Readings:

  • Russell & Norvig: Chapter 14
November 19 Decision making in the presence of uncertainty

Readings:

  • Russell & Norvig: Chapter 16
Homework assignment 8
December 1 Decision making in the presence of uncertainty II.

Readings:

  • Russell & Norvig: Chapter 16.1-16.3.
December 3 Markov decision processes

Readings:

  • Russell & Norvig: Chapter 17.1-17.3


Homeworks

Homework assignments will include a mix of programming and written problems. Programming assignments will be implemented in the lisp language. The assignments (both written and programming parts) are due at the beginning of the class on the day specified on the assignment. In general, no extensions will be granted. See rules for the submission of programs.

Collaborations: You may discuss material with your fellow students, but the report and programs should be written individually.
 


Term projects

The term project is due at the end of the semester and accounts for a significant portion of your grade. In very general terms, a project should address a knowledge representation and/or reasoning problem. It may consist of a development of a simple knowledge base (expert system) application, the development of a reasoning, explanation, or consistency checking modules for KBs, or application of KR and reasoning to support advanced web queries.

Students With Disabilities:
If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and Disability Resources and Services, 216 William Pitt Union, (412) 648-7890/(412) 383-7355 (TTY), as early as possible in the term. DRS will verify your disability and determine reasonable accomodations for this course.


Last updated by Milos on 01/04/2007