[comp.ai.digest] Course - Probability and AI

Terina.Jett@B.GP.CS.CMU.EDU (07/20/87)

                   PROBABILITY AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE


Offered by:             Department of Philosophy, CMU
Instructor:             Kevin T. Kelly
Grad Course No:         80-312
Undergrad Course No:    80-811
Place:                  Porter Hall, 126-B
Time:                  Tuesday, Thursday, 3:00-4:00


Intended Audience:  Graduate students ans sophisticated undergraduates
interested in inductive methods, the philosophy of science, mathematical 
logic, statistics, computer science, artificial intelligence, and
cognitive science.

Prerequisites:  Familiarity with mathematical logic, computation, and
probability theory.

Course Focus:  There are several ways in which the combined system of a 
rational agent and its environment can be stochastic.  The agent's
hypotheses may make claims about probabilities, the agent's environment
may be stochastic, and the agent itself may be stochastic, in any com-
bination.  In this course, we will examine efforts to study computational
proposals from the point of view of logic and probability theory.  Example
topics are Bayesian systems, Dempster/Shafer theory, medical expert systems,
computationally tractable learnability, automated linear causal modelling,
and Osherson and Weinstein's results concerning limitations on effective
Bayesians.

Course Format:  The grade will be based on frequent exercises and possibly
a final project.  There will be no examinations if the class keeps up with
the material.



















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