Research AreasS. E. Shimony

Artificial intelligence and applications.

• Probabilistic reasoning.

• Knowledge discovery and data-mining.

• Meta-reasoning (“anytime algorithms”).• Decision-making under uncertainty.

• Spatio-temporal data models and reasoning.

Probabilistic Reasoning

• Structured probabilistic models: Bayesian networks and Bayesian Knowledge Bases.

• Reasoning in structured models: exact and anytime approximation algorithms.

Example: linear-time algorithm for polytree+selector topology in Bayes networks.

Application: prediction of ramifications of user actions in CP-net based systems.

Decision-Making under Uncertainty

• Structured Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes.

• Special cases: Canadian Traveler Problem

Given a weighted graph, where some edges can become blocked, find a policy that minimizes expected travel costs.

Knowledge Discovery

• Learning Bayesian Knowledge Bases from data. (Finding covering and disjoint set of probabilistic rules.)

• Complexity of some disjoint-DNF problems.

Meta-Reasoning

• Search control using expected search utility, for:

1. constraint satisfaction problems.

2. interleaving game-tree search with planning.

• Algorithm selection, control of algorithm portfolios.

Spatio-Temporal Reasoning

• Object-oriented spatio-temporal probabilistic data models.

• Path planning in time-varying environments with uncertainty.

• Applications in simulated and actual robotics.

• AI in games (strategy and real-rime)

Research Projects

• Search in graphs under uncertainty (e.g. Canadian Traveller Problem – ISF)

Past projects:• Inspection setup (IMG4): probabilistic reasoning, meta-

reasoning, spatio-temporal models, data-mining.

• Business-oriented knowledge discovery and representation (KITE, cVidya, DT): preference optimization, probabilistic reasoning, data-mining.

• Multi-agent simulated robotics: meta-reasoning, probabilistic reasoning, spatio-temporal reasoning.

Research Students

• Dror Fried, Olga Maksin, Doron Zarchy (CTP)

• David Tolpin (Meta-reasoning)

Recently graduated students:• Ami Berler (Multi-agents POMDP)

• Yan Radovilsky (Meta-reasoning)

• Natalia Vanetik (Graphs: flows, mining)

• Sivan Albagli (Interactive ontology matching)

• Yan Virin (Decision-making under Uncertainty)

• Maxim Binstok (Decision-making and preferences)