Lecture overview

What is artificial intelligence?

Agents acting in an environment
Learning objectives: at the end of the class, you should be able to
describe what an intelligent agent is
identify the goals of Artificial Intelligence
classify the inputs and the outputs of various agents

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What is artificial intelligence?

Artificial intelligence is the synthesis and analysis of

computational agents that act intelligently.

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What is artificial intelligence?

Artificial intelligence is the synthesis and analysis of

computational agents that act intelligently.
An agent is something that acts in an environment.

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What is artificial intelligence?

Artificial intelligence is the synthesis and analysis of

computational agents that act intelligently.
An agent is something that acts in an environment.
An agent acts intelligently if:
I its actions are appropriate for its goals and circumstances

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What is artificial intelligence?

Artificial intelligence is the synthesis and analysis of

computational agents that act intelligently.
An agent is something that acts in an environment.
An agent acts intelligently if:
I its actions are appropriate for its goals and circumstances
I it is flexible to changing environments and goals

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What is artificial intelligence?

Artificial intelligence is the synthesis and analysis of

computational agents that act intelligently.
An agent is something that acts in an environment.
An agent acts intelligently if:
I its actions are appropriate for its goals and circumstances
I it is flexible to changing environments and goals
I it learns from experience

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What is artificial intelligence?

Artificial intelligence is the synthesis and analysis of

computational agents that act intelligently.
An agent is something that acts in an environment.
An agent acts intelligently if:
I its actions are appropriate for its goals and circumstances
I it is flexible to changing environments and goals
I it learns from experience
I it makes appropriate choices given perceptual and
computational limitations

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Examples of agents

Organisations Microsoft, Al Qaeda, Government of Canada,

UBC, CS Dept,...

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Examples of agents

Organisations Microsoft, Al Qaeda, Government of Canada,

UBC, CS Dept,...
People teacher, physician, stock trader, engineer, researcher,
travel agent, farmer, waiter...

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Examples of agents

Organisations Microsoft, Al Qaeda, Government of Canada,

UBC, CS Dept,...
People teacher, physician, stock trader, engineer, researcher,
travel agent, farmer, waiter...
Computers/devices thermostat, user interface, airplane
controller, network controller, game, advising system, tutoring
system, diagnostic assistant, robot, Google car, Mars rover...

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Examples of agents

Organisations Microsoft, Al Qaeda, Government of Canada,

UBC, CS Dept,...
People teacher, physician, stock trader, engineer, researcher,
travel agent, farmer, waiter...
Computers/devices thermostat, user interface, airplane
controller, network controller, game, advising system, tutoring
system, diagnostic assistant, robot, Google car, Mars rover...
Animals dog, mouse, bird, insect, worm, bacterium, bacteria...

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Examples of agents

Organisations Microsoft, Al Qaeda, Government of Canada,

UBC, CS Dept,...
People teacher, physician, stock trader, engineer, researcher,
travel agent, farmer, waiter...
Computers/devices thermostat, user interface, airplane
controller, network controller, game, advising system, tutoring
system, diagnostic assistant, robot, Google car, Mars rover...
Animals dog, mouse, bird, insect, worm, bacterium, bacteria...
book(?), sentence(?), word(?), letter(?)

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Examples of agents

Organisations Microsoft, Al Qaeda, Government of Canada,

UBC, CS Dept,...
People teacher, physician, stock trader, engineer, researcher,
travel agent, farmer, waiter...
Computers/devices thermostat, user interface, airplane
controller, network controller, game, advising system, tutoring
system, diagnostic assistant, robot, Google car, Mars rover...
Animals dog, mouse, bird, insect, worm, bacterium, bacteria...
book(?), sentence(?), word(?), letter(?)
Can a book or article do things?

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Examples of agents

Organisations Microsoft, Al Qaeda, Government of Canada,

UBC, CS Dept,...
People teacher, physician, stock trader, engineer, researcher,
travel agent, farmer, waiter...
Computers/devices thermostat, user interface, airplane
controller, network controller, game, advising system, tutoring
system, diagnostic assistant, robot, Google car, Mars rover...
Animals dog, mouse, bird, insect, worm, bacterium, bacteria...
book(?), sentence(?), word(?), letter(?)
Can a book or article do things?
Convince? Argue? Inspire? Cause people to act differently?

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Goals of artificial intelligence

Scientific goal: to understand the principles that make

intelligent behavior possible in natural or artificial systems.

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Goals of artificial intelligence

Scientific goal: to understand the principles that make

intelligent behavior possible in natural or artificial systems.
I analyze natural and artificial agents

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Goals of artificial intelligence

Scientific goal: to understand the principles that make

intelligent behavior possible in natural or artificial systems.
I analyze natural and artificial agents
I formulate and test hypotheses about what it takes to construct
intelligent agents

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Goals of artificial intelligence

Scientific goal: to understand the principles that make

intelligent behavior possible in natural or artificial systems.
I analyze natural and artificial agents
I formulate and test hypotheses about what it takes to construct
intelligent agents
I design, build, and experiment with computational systems that
perform tasks that require intelligence

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Goals of artificial intelligence

Scientific goal: to understand the principles that make

intelligent behavior possible in natural or artificial systems.
I analyze natural and artificial agents
I formulate and test hypotheses about what it takes to construct
intelligent agents
I design, build, and experiment with computational systems that
perform tasks that require intelligence
Engineering goal: design useful, intelligent artifacts.

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Goals of artificial intelligence

Scientific goal: to understand the principles that make

intelligent behavior possible in natural or artificial systems.
I analyze natural and artificial agents
I formulate and test hypotheses about what it takes to construct
intelligent agents
I design, build, and experiment with computational systems that
perform tasks that require intelligence
Engineering goal: design useful, intelligent artifacts.
Analogy between studying flying machines and thinking
machines.

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Agents acting in an environment: inputs and output

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Agents acting in an environment: inputs and output

Abilities

Goals/Preferences

Prior Knowledge Agent

Stimuli
Actions
Past Experiences

Environment

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Inputs to an agent

Abilities — the set of possible actions it can perform

Goals/Preferences — what it wants, its desires, its values,...
Prior Knowledge — what it comes into being knowing, what
it doesn’t get from experience,...
History of stimuli
I (current) stimuli — what it receives from environment now
(observations, percepts)
I past experiences — what it has received in the past

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Example agent: autonomous car

abilities:

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Example agent: autonomous car

abilities: steer, accelerate, brake

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Example agent: autonomous car

abilities: steer, accelerate, brake

goals:

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Example agent: autonomous car

abilities: steer, accelerate, brake

goals: safety, get to destination, timeliness . . .

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Example agent: autonomous car

abilities: steer, accelerate, brake

goals: safety, get to destination, timeliness . . .
prior knowledge:

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Example agent: autonomous car

abilities: steer, accelerate, brake

goals: safety, get to destination, timeliness . . .
prior knowledge: street maps, what signs mean, what to stop
for . . .

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Example agent: autonomous car

abilities: steer, accelerate, brake

goals: safety, get to destination, timeliness . . .
prior knowledge: street maps, what signs mean, what to stop
for . . .
stimuli:

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Example agent: autonomous car

abilities: steer, accelerate, brake

goals: safety, get to destination, timeliness . . .
prior knowledge: street maps, what signs mean, what to stop
for . . .
stimuli: vision, laser, GPS, voice commands . . .

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Example agent: autonomous car

abilities: steer, accelerate, brake

goals: safety, get to destination, timeliness . . .
prior knowledge: street maps, what signs mean, what to stop
for . . .
stimuli: vision, laser, GPS, voice commands . . .
past experiences:

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Example agent: autonomous car

abilities: steer, accelerate, brake

goals: safety, get to destination, timeliness . . .
prior knowledge: street maps, what signs mean, what to stop
for . . .
stimuli: vision, laser, GPS, voice commands . . .
past experiences: how breaking and steering affects direction
and speed. . .

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Example agent: robot

abilities:

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Example agent: robot

abilities: movement, grippers, speech, facial expressions,. . .

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Example agent: robot

abilities: movement, grippers, speech, facial expressions,. . .

goals:

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Example agent: robot

abilities: movement, grippers, speech, facial expressions,. . .

goals: deliver food, rescue people, score goals, explore,. . .

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Example agent: robot

abilities: movement, grippers, speech, facial expressions,. . .

goals: deliver food, rescue people, score goals, explore,. . .
prior knowledge:

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Example agent: robot

abilities: movement, grippers, speech, facial expressions,. . .

goals: deliver food, rescue people, score goals, explore,. . .
prior knowledge: what is important feature, categories of
objects, what a sensor tell us,. . .

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Example agent: robot

abilities: movement, grippers, speech, facial expressions,. . .

goals: deliver food, rescue people, score goals, explore,. . .
prior knowledge: what is important feature, categories of
objects, what a sensor tell us,. . .
stimuli:

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Example agent: robot

abilities: movement, grippers, speech, facial expressions,. . .

goals: deliver food, rescue people, score goals, explore,. . .
prior knowledge: what is important feature, categories of
objects, what a sensor tell us,. . .
stimuli: vision, sonar, sound, speech recognition, gesture
recognition,. . .

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Example agent: robot

abilities: movement, grippers, speech, facial expressions,. . .

goals: deliver food, rescue people, score goals, explore,. . .
prior knowledge: what is important feature, categories of
objects, what a sensor tell us,. . .
stimuli: vision, sonar, sound, speech recognition, gesture
recognition,. . .
past experiences:

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Example agent: robot

abilities: movement, grippers, speech, facial expressions,. . .

goals: deliver food, rescue people, score goals, explore,. . .
prior knowledge: what is important feature, categories of
objects, what a sensor tell us,. . .
stimuli: vision, sonar, sound, speech recognition, gesture
recognition,. . .
past experiences: effect of steering, slipperiness, how people
move,. . .

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Example agent: teacher

abilities:

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Example agent: teacher

abilities: present new concept, drill, give test, explain

concept,. . .

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Example agent: teacher

abilities: present new concept, drill, give test, explain

concept,. . .
goals:

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Example agent: teacher

abilities: present new concept, drill, give test, explain

concept,. . .
goals: particular knowledge, skills, inquisitiveness, social
skills,. . .

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Example agent: teacher

abilities: present new concept, drill, give test, explain

concept,. . .
goals: particular knowledge, skills, inquisitiveness, social
skills,. . .
prior knowledge:

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Example agent: teacher

abilities: present new concept, drill, give test, explain

concept,. . .
goals: particular knowledge, skills, inquisitiveness, social
skills,. . .
prior knowledge: subject material, teaching strategies,. . .

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Example agent: teacher

abilities: present new concept, drill, give test, explain

concept,. . .
goals: particular knowledge, skills, inquisitiveness, social
skills,. . .
prior knowledge: subject material, teaching strategies,. . .
stimuli:

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Example agent: teacher

abilities: present new concept, drill, give test, explain

concept,. . .
goals: particular knowledge, skills, inquisitiveness, social
skills,. . .
prior knowledge: subject material, teaching strategies,. . .
stimuli: test results, facial expressions, errors, focus,. . .

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Example agent: teacher

abilities: present new concept, drill, give test, explain

concept,. . .
goals: particular knowledge, skills, inquisitiveness, social
skills,. . .
prior knowledge: subject material, teaching strategies,. . .
stimuli: test results, facial expressions, errors, focus,. . .
past experiences:

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Example agent: teacher

abilities: present new concept, drill, give test, explain

concept,. . .
goals: particular knowledge, skills, inquisitiveness, social
skills,. . .
prior knowledge: subject material, teaching strategies,. . .
stimuli: test results, facial expressions, errors, focus,. . .
past experiences: prior test results, effects of teaching
strategies, . . .

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Example agent: thermostat for heater

abilities:

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Example agent: thermostat for heater

abilities: turn heater on or off

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Example agent: thermostat for heater

abilities: turn heater on or off

goals:

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Example agent: thermostat for heater

abilities: turn heater on or off

goals: conformable temperature, save fuel, save money

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Example agent: thermostat for heater

abilities: turn heater on or off

goals: conformable temperature, save fuel, save money
prior knowledge:

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Example agent: thermostat for heater

abilities: turn heater on or off

goals: conformable temperature, save fuel, save money
prior knowledge: 24 hour cycle, weekends

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Example agent: thermostat for heater

abilities: turn heater on or off

goals: conformable temperature, save fuel, save money
prior knowledge: 24 hour cycle, weekends
stimuli:

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Example agent: thermostat for heater

abilities: turn heater on or off

goals: conformable temperature, save fuel, save money
prior knowledge: 24 hour cycle, weekends
stimuli: temperature, set temperature, who is home, outside
temperature

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Example agent: thermostat for heater

abilities: turn heater on or off

goals: conformable temperature, save fuel, save money
prior knowledge: 24 hour cycle, weekends
stimuli: temperature, set temperature, who is home, outside
temperature
past experiences:

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Example agent: thermostat for heater

abilities: turn heater on or off

goals: conformable temperature, save fuel, save money
prior knowledge: 24 hour cycle, weekends
stimuli: temperature, set temperature, who is home, outside
temperature
past experiences: when people come and go, who likes what
temperature

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Example agent: medical doctor

abilities:
goals:
prior knowledge:
stimuli:
past experiences:

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Example agent: Apple Inc.

abilities:
goals:
prior knowledge:
stimuli:
past experiences:

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Other Agents

user interface
bee
smart home
...

abilities:
goals:
prior knowledge:
stimuli:
past experiences:

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Example agent:

abilities:
goals:
prior knowledge:
stimuli:
past experiences:

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Agents acting in an environment

Abilities

Goals/Preferences

Prior Knowledge Agent

Stimuli
Actions
Past Experiences

Environment

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