Neural networks:

Types: Biological, artificial

A NN has to be first trained by presenting it with past cases ( after training the network can be used for
classification)

The most popular type of artificial NN are used to classify input into different categories

Intelligent agents:
An agent is a piece of software that performs a task for its owner
 Involves AI combined with networks
 Applications for intelligent agents have been for consumer tasks like shopping and providing
recommendations based on profile matches

Decision maker needs knowledge to make decisions

Types of knowledge: descriptive, procedural, reasoning
Forms of knowledge: tacit, explicit

Conversion of knowledge between tacit and explicit forms(after Nonaka 5)

Tacit to tacit – socialization – team meetings and discussions
Tacit to explicit – externalization – dialog within team, answer questions

Explicit to tacit – internalization – learn from a report

Explicit to explicit – combination – email a report

Fuzzy logic
An approach to uncertainty that combines real values(0,1) and logic operations
Fuzzy logic is based on the ideas of fuzzy set theory and fuzzy set membership often found in
language( you are tall – what is tall?, you are very tall – how does this differ from all?)..

 In normal sets, membership is binary ( an item is either in the set or not in the set)
 In fuzzy sets, membership is based on a degree between 0 and 1
-0 = item not in set, -1 = item is in set, If degree is between 0 and 1, then this degree is the
degree to which the item is thought to be in the set
 In a way, this is like the statistic approaches, but it differs
 Unlike statistics and probabilities, the degree is not describing a property

Distinctions to probabilities
 Why both fuzzy sets and probabilities use real numbers to ‘describe’ a degree of membership
they differ:
Membership functions are not necessarily based on statistic distributions
Fuzzy logic deals with deterministic plausibility
Probabilities dal more with non-deterministic but stochastic events and their likelihoods

Set operations:
  Fuzzy sets, like sets, have operations for
- Is a member of : a(u)
- Union: A u B = {u/max(a(u),b(u) | u in U}
- Intersection: A n B = {u/min(a(u), b(u) | u in U}
- Complement: ~A ={u/1-a(u) | u in U}

Fuzzy relations:
 A is a fuzzy set in the Universe U with membership function a(u)
 B is a fuzzy set in the Universe V with membership function b(V)
 AXB={(u,v)/min(a(u),b(v)) -----check------

Fuzzy logic:
 Just as fuzzy sets are an extension to sets, fuzzy logic is an extension to logic
 Union = or, intersection = and, complement = not
 A=>B or If A then B is a fuzzy implication and can be derived as AXB

Fuzzy system applications:

 Fuzzy logic is most commonly used as controllers of systems, applying fuzzy rules to determine
changes in output
- Cement kiln – first expert system to use fuzzy logic

New applications:
Home appliances, video cameras, automotive, robotics, aerospace

Future development – hybrids:

Fuzzy neural net: the two areas can complement each weakness (fuzzy logic –does not learn, neural
networks – little control)

Fuzzy genetic algorithms: Generic algorithms can be used to tune membership functions

Limitations of fuzzy logic

- Stability
- Learning
- Determining good membership functions and fuzzy rules is not always easy or
straightforward
- Verification and Validation requires extensive testing ( as in expert system). This is especially
important of controllers where safety becomes a key factor( eg. Subway system, space
shuttle)

Fuzzier methods:
- Fuzzy logic is roughly based on mathematical formalism
- Fuzzy methods do not require this mathematical backing
- Certainty factors are a compromise between using fuzzy logic and a loser approach
- Qualitative fuzzy rules go further and completely divorce the rules from mathematics