From nwanahs@cs.keele.ac.uk Thu Dec 23 12:33:24 EST 1993 Article: 5311 of news.announce.conferences Xref: glinda.oz.cs.cmu.edu news.announce.conferences:5311 Newsgroups: news.announce.conferences Path: honeydew.srv.cs.cmu.edu!fs7.ece.cmu.edu!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!uunet!sparky!rick From: nwanahs@cs.keele.ac.uk (Hyacinth Nwana) Subject: CFP: 1994 AISB Workshop & Tutorial Series Message-ID: <1993Dec22.182158.868@sparky.sterling.com> Sender: rick@sparky.sterling.com (Richard Ohnemus) Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of Keele, England Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1993 18:21:58 GMT Approved: rick@sparky.sterling.com Expires: Tue, 1 Mar 1994 08:00:00 GMT Lines: 694 X-Md4-Signature: 964dca18a151f2cfe84a10545ec5e740 ======================================================================= INVITATION TO ATTEND AISB WORKSHOP & TUTORIAL SERIES University of Leeds, England April 11th - 13th 1994 Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour (SSAISB) The AISB Committee invites you to attend Workshops and Tutorials in the first AISB Biennial Workshop & Tutorial Series. In odd numbered years AISB holds a scientific conference with an attached workshop and tutorial programme. In the intervening even years AISB is now starting an event which consists just of workshops and tutorials without a main conference. The fact that many workshops are being held concurrently in the same place will provide an opportunity for attendees at one workshop to meet with those from other workshops during breaks and in the evenings. In some instances, it is also possible for attendees to attend more than one event. The workshops and tutorials which are planned are as follows. Note that if you require further information about a particular workshop or tutorial, you should contact the individual workshop / tutorial organiser. If you require further information about the Series, you should contact one of the Series organisers (listed below). WORKSHOPS: ========= Title Dates Contact Evolutionary Computing 2 days Terry Fogarty Mon pm - Weds am tc_fogar@pat.uwe.ac.uk Models or Behaviours -- which 1.5 days Ruth Aylett way forward for robotics? Tues pm & Weds R.Aylett@iti.salford.ac.uk Computational Linguistics for 1 day Lindsay Evett Speech and Handwriting Recognition Tues lje@doc.ntu.ac.uk Automated Reasoning: Bridging the 2 days Alan Frisch Gap between Theory and Practice Mon & Tues frisch@minster.york.ac.uk Spatial and Spatio-temporal 1 day John Gooday Reasoning Weds gooday@scs.leeds.ac.uk Computational Models of Cognition 1 day Simon Grant and Cognitive Functions Mon simon@city.ac.uk TUTORIALS: ========= Practical Introduction to the 1 day Frank Ritter Soar Cognitive Architecture Tues ritter@psyc.nott.ac.uk Computing and Cognition as 0.5 day Gerry Wolff Information Compression Mon am gerry@sees.bangor.ac.uk POSTGRADUATE: ============ Postgraduate Workshop 2 days Ann Blandford Mon & Tues ann.blandford@mrc-apu.cam.ac.uk Series Organisers: ================= Dr. Hyacinth S. Nwana | Dr Ann Blandford Department of Computer Science | MRC Applied Psychology Unit University of Keele | 15, Chaucer Road, Keele, Staffordshire | Cambridge ST5 5BG | CB2 2EF UK | UK | Email: | JANET: nwanahs@uk.ac.keele.cs | ann.blandford@uk.ac.cam.mrc-apu INTERNET: nwanahs@cs.keele.ac.uk | ann.blandford@mrc-apu.cam.ac.uk | Tel: (+44) (0) 782 583413 | Tel: (+44) (0) 223 355294 Fax: (+44) (0) 782 713082 | Fax: (+44) (0) 223 359062 ============================================================================== Registration fees below include costs of materials and of lunches which fall entirely within the duration of the workshop / tutorial. Costs of other meals and accommodation (in pounds sterling) are as follows: B + B 19.50 + VAT = 22.90 lunch 5.95 + VAT = 7.00 Dinner 8.75 + VAT = 10.30 ============================================================================== CALL FOR PARTICIPATION AISB WORKSHOP ON EVOLUTIONARY COMPUTING April 11th (pm) - 13th (am), (2 days) University of Leeds, UK Organisers: Terry Fogarty - University of the West of England, Bristol Ray Paton - Liverpool University Nick Radcliffe - Edinburgh University Phil Husbands - Sussex University Colin Reeves - Coventry University Peter Fleming - Sheffield University Dave Corne - Edinburgh University Abstract: The purpose of the workshop is to give researchers active in the area of evolutionary computing in the UK an opportunity to present their work and have discussions on current developments in a relatively informal atmosphere at a low cost. Abstracts of talks will be refereed by the committee and a program drawn up on the basis of those accepted. Papers will be bound and distributed to the participants at the beginning of the workshop. Contributions will be welcomed from researchers visiting the UK. Subjects: Genetic Algorithms, Classifier Systems, Genetic Programming, Evolutionary Strategies, Evolutionary Programming. Papers: Acceptance will be on the basis of abstracts of a maximum 1000 words. Places will be available for those submitting abstracts. Others who wish to attend should submit a summary of interests. Timetable: 15th Jan 1994: Last date for submission of abstracts 15th Feb 1994: Notification of accepted abstracts 15th Mar 1994: Full papers due. Registration fee (including costs of Tuesday lunch and materials): non-members AISB members General: #115 #85 Full-time students: #100 #70 Please send submissions and correspondence the workshop chair, Terry Fogarty. email: tc_fogar@pat.uwe.ac.uk post: Dr Terence C. Fogarty Faculty of Computer Studies and Mathematics University of the West of England, Bristol Coldharbour Lane Bristol, BS16 1QY England. ============================================================================== AISB Workshops April 1994 - Call for Participation Models or behaviours - which way forward for robotics? 12th (pm) & 13th April (1.5 days) Organiser: Ruth Aylett, IT Institute, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT Committee: Dave Barnes, E&E Engineering Dept., University of Salford Dave Eustace, School of Electronics, University College Salford Abstract: The original application of AI to robotics emphasised the need for robots to reason symbolically about the world and their own actions. From SHAKEY onwards, models were seen as central to these abilities. However, in the mid 80s growing criticism of this approach produced alternatives such as the Brooksian subsumption architecture in which the absence of models was seen as a virtue and behaviours as the way to produce autonomous activity through reaction and adaptivity. Neural nets and genetic algorithms have also been put forward as a means of producing adaptive robots. More recently, various researchers both in robotics and multi-agent architectures have investigated ways in which hybrids of these contrasting approaches might be used. What is the best way forward? This is a workshop for all those in robotics - model-based, behavioural or hybrid - and in multi-agent architectures to discuss in an informal and low cost setting how intelligent robots might/should/could be produced. Bring a robot - or a video (or even a simulation) - and your views. Topics: We would like the workshop to incorporate sharply different views of the way forward for robotics. With this in mind we propose to invite two key-note speakers, one for the model-based position and one for the adaptive/behavioural position, to start debate going. We would like participants to submit position papers on where they stand on one or more of the following issues, and if possible to bring with them robots, videos or simulations which illustrate their stance. Half a day of the workshop will be allocated to such demonstrations. Rapporteurs will produce a document summarising the discussion during the workshop. Questions: Is the world always its own best model: if yes, how does it work as such, if no, what should be modelled and how? What, if any, is the role of internal state in a robot? What sensor information do robots need? Should they actively seek it? How could complex tasks be carried out - or should robots stick to simple ones? How could robots co-operate with each other? With humans? Is this necessary/desirable? How much autonomy can a robot have? How much should it have? What does a good architecture look like? Why? Required background: research in robotics, multi-agent AI, artificial life Acceptance: On the basis of an abstract including any suggested robot demo/video/simulation (max 1 side of A4). This to be expanded to a short position paper (max 4 sides): these will be bound and handed out at the workshop. Timetable: Abstract: Jan 15th Acceptance: Feb 15th Position paper: March 15th Registration fee (including costs of Wednesday lunch and materials): non-members AISB members General: #105 #75 Full-time students: #90 #60 Please send submissions and correspondance to: Ruth Aylett: IT Institute, University of Salford, Salford, M5 4WT email: R.Aylett@iti.salford.ac.uk Tel: 061-745-5716 Fax:061-745-8169 ============================================================================== Computational Linguistics for Speech and Handwriting Recognition ================================================================ CALL FOR PAPERS =============== A one-day workshop organised by L.J. Evett & T.G. Rose as part of the AISB 1994 Workshop Series 12th April 1994 Leeds University, England ABSTRACT ======== Reliable speech and handwriting recognition cannot be achieved through pattern recognition techniques alone. Natural language input is notoriously ambiguous, and the application of higher level knowledge is necessary to cope with this and other difficulties. Previous attempts to implement linguistic knowledge have often employed a logic based approach, drawing on a lexicon of symbolic information. However, recent technological advances have allowed the development of large text corpora from which probabilistic linguistic data may be derived. Consequently, there has been a renewal of interest in techniques based upon such statistical information. This workshop aims to compare these two approaches, and evaluate their present (and potential) contribution to speech and handwriting recognition. The workshop will also consider related language processing problems, such as parsing, word class formation, part of speech tagging, sense disambiguation, discourse analysis, and the development of on-line lexical resources. REQUIREMENTS FOR SUBMISSION =========================== Please submit an extended abstract (max. 500 words) to the address below. Email submissions are strongly encouraged. Authors of accepted abstracts will be invited to write a full paper for inclusion in the proceedings. DEADLINES ========= Abstracts due : 28th January, 1994 Acceptance notification : 4th February, 1994 Full paper due : 11th March, 1994 Registration fee (including costs of Tuesday lunch and materials): non-members AISB members General: #90 #60 Full-time students: #75 #45 Please send submissions and correspondence to: L.J. Evett, Department of Computing, Nottingham Trent University, Burton Street, Nottingham, NG1 4BU England. Tel: 0602 418418 ext. 2158 Fax: 0602 486518 email: lje@uk.ac.ntu.doc ========================================================================= Call for participation: Automated Reasoning: Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice April 11-12 Organiser: Alan M Frisch, Department of Computer Science, University of York Co-sponsors: University of Leeds Centre for Theoretical Computer Science and the University of York Intelligent Systems Group. Abstract: This workshop will provide an opportunity for the automated reasoning community to meet in an informal setting to discuss recent work, new ideas, and current trends in the field of automated reasoning. It will also provide an opportunity to get an overview of the many specialised areas in which automated reasoning is progressing. The scope of the workshop will cover the full breadth and diversity of automated reasoning, including topics such as logic and functional programming; equational reasoning; deductive databases; unification and constraint solving; formal methods for specifying, deriving, transforming and verifying software systems, hardware systems, and system requirements; deductive and non-deductive reasoning, including abduction, induction, nonmonotonic reasoning, and analogical reasoning; commonsense reasoning; and the wide range of topics that fall under the heading of knowledge representation and reasoning. A large part of the workshop will be devoted to open discussion sessions organised around specific topics related to the theme of the workshop, "bridging the gap between theory and practice." In addition to ample discussion sessions, there will be open poster sessions, giving all participants the opportunity to present their work. This is intended to be an inclusive workshop, with participants encouraged from the broad spectrum covered by the field of automated reasoning. We encourage the participation of experienced researchers as well as those new to the field, especially students. Required Background: Some understanding of the pure or applied problems in any subarea of automated reasoning. Submission Requirements: Anyone interested in participating in this workshop should submit a position paper by February 16, 1994, to the programme chair at the address below. The paper should address the theme of the workshop, "bridging the gap between theory and practice," as it applies to any aspect of automated reasoning. As an example, one could address the design of logic programming systems that are practical for programming yet are close to being pure deductive systems. Submissions must be a maximum of 2 pages of A4 paper with one inch margins. Authors either may submit three unstapled hardcopies of their paper, or may email their paper in postscript. On the basis of these submissions, invitations to the workshop will be issued by March 3, 1994. The position papers of all participants will be assembled into an informal proceedings distributed to all participants. Participants wishing to revise their position papers, may do so by March 15, 1994. Registration fee (including costs of Monday & Tuesday lunches and materials): non-members AISB members General: #120 #90 Full-time students: #105 #75 All submissions and correspondence should be sent to the Programme Chair: Alan Frisch Department of Computer Science University of York York YO1 5DD United Kingdom phone: +44 (904) 432745 fax: +44 (904) 432767 email: frisch@minster.york.ac.uk ============================================================================== Workshop on Spatial and Spatio-temporal Reasoning Antony Galton Dept. Computer Science, University of Exeter John Gooday and Nick Gotts School of Computer Studies, University of Leeds Wednesday 13th April Abstract: In the last few years various calculi have been developed to aid the formalisation of spatial concepts, many based on temporal reasoning approaches. These have enabled researchers in fields such as AI, GIS and cognitive science to begin to explore shape, orientation, topology, spatio-temporal processes and spatial knowledge representation. The purpose of this workshop is threefold: (1) to provide the rapidly evolving spatial reasoning research community with an opportunity to meet and present recent work; (2) to evaluate and compare past work with a view to identifying common issues and establishing the extent of progress to date; (3) to discuss the possible direction of future work in the field and formulate an agenda for spatial and spatio-temporal research. The workshop will consist of refereed paper presentations, discussion groups, a panel session and an invited talk (Prof. Christian Freksa, University of Hamburg). Attendance is by invitation only and will be strictly limited to 30 participants in order to ensure maximum interaction. Relevant discussion topics include: Orientation, position, shape, topology, conceptual neighbourhoods, spatial processes and event, qualitative representations of size and distance, applications of spatial and spatio-temporal reasoning, cognitive and psychological aspects, integration/comparison of existing formalisms. Researchers wishing to present papers at the workshop should submit three copies of an extended abstract to the address below by February 14th, 1994. Abstracts should be a maximum of 5 A4 pages in length, excluding title page and references, and should either describe recent research work or survey/contrast past approaches. The title page should clearly state the author name(s), contact address(es) and email address(es). Authors will be notified of acceptance or rejection by 4th March. Anyone wishing to attend the workshop without presenting a paper should submit a position statement (maximum of 2 A4 pages in length) detailing relevant research interests. These should be sent to the address below by February 14th 1994. Registration fee (including costs of Tuesday lunch and materials): non-members AISB members General: #90 #60 Full-time students: #75 #45 Please send submissions and correspondence to: John Gooday, Division of Artificial Intelligence, School of Computer Studies, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK. (email: gooday@scs.leeds.ac.uk) ============================================================================== Workshop title: Computational models of cognition and cognitive functions. Organisers: Simon Grant, Richard Cooper. Monday 11th April. Abstract: The workshop will address two major issues. We hope firstly to survey the variety of symbolic cognitive models currently under development, and secondly to consider the methodological issues raised by the construction of such models within cognitive science. We will welcome submissions concerning computational models of cognition in complex tasks, in learning, in rich everyday activities, and in phenomena from clinical psychology. The workshop will focus on the study of architectures that are well-adapted to these areas, and in the methodology surrounding the construction of related models; including computational support for model construction. The emphasis is on models with a high degree of cognitive plausibility. Models of aspects of cognition are of interest but their role in complete systems should be addressed. Ideally, models should be related to real-world data (rather than simply that from the psychological laboratory). Required background: Participants should be familiar with the enterprise of symbolic modelling and the concepts involved. Ideally they should have some practical experience with the construction and validation of such models. A basic familiarity with PROLOG may be assumed by presenters. Discussion papers: In the first instance, send an abstract (email strongly preferred) of 100 to 300 words to the organisers, by 21st January 1994. They will select those that seem to have most synergy, and will invite submission of full draft discussion papers to those abstracts, by a deadline to be decided. The papers will be accepted for presentation on the basis of the full draft. Presenters will each be allocated one half hour in total, of which they are expected to use between 10 and 20 minutes in presentation. Non-presenters will be welcomed on the basis of how much they are likely to give to or take from the workshop. Please submit a short statement of research interest, noting any relevant publications. Registration fee (including cost of Monday lunch and materials): non-members AISB members General: #90 #60 Full-time students: #75 #45 Please send submissions and correspondence to either or both of: Dr Simon Grant Dr Richard Cooper Department of Business Computing Department of Psychology City University University College Northampton Square Gower Street London EC1V 0HB London WC1E 6BT Email: simon@city.ac.uk r.cooper@psychol.ucl.ac.uk Fax: 071 477 8586 071 436 4276 Telephone: 071 477 8418 071 387 7050 x 5418 ======================================================================= CALL for PARTICIPATION in a TUTORIAL to be presented at the AISB Workshop Series, University of Leeds 12th April 1994 Practical Introduction to the Soar Cognitive Architecture Frank Ritter Richard M Young AI Group Medical Research Council Department of Psychology Applied Psychology Unit University of Nottingham Cambridge This ONE DAY tutorial will cover the fundamentals of the Soar architecture. Soar is a cognitive architecture built around multiple problem spaces for representing knowledge and implemented as a production system. It includes a simple built-in learning mechanism called chunking. Soar has been proposed by Allen Newell as a candidate "unified theory of cognition". It has been used to model behavior in natural language processing, planning, HCI, abductive reasoning, and various laboratory tasks. The tutorial will be of interest to cognitive scientists, cognitive psychologists, and possibly AI researchers, though the emphasis will be on the cognitive implications of Soar rather than its AI and Knowledge Engineering applications. The tutorial will be based on a mixture of lectures and practical exercises requiring students to run and modify Soar models. There will also be opportunities to discuss the psychological implications of Soar and other topics of interest to the audience. Topics to be covered include: Overview of the theory; Getting started; Default behavior; Viewing the state of a running model; Adding knowledge to the model; Learning an operator control chunk; The decision procedure; What does Soar buy you?; Where to go next? Suggested background reading: It will help if those attending the tutorial know something about the use of production systems as cognitive models, and have at least a passing acquaintance with the book by Allen Newell, "Unified Theories of Cognition" (Harvard University Press, 1990). A short but useful overview of Soar is provided in two articles by Mitch Waldrop, both in "Science", volume 241, 1988: "Toward a unified theory of cognition", pp.27-29; and "Soar: A unified theory of cognition?", pp.296-298. Registration fee (including costs of Tuesday lunch and materials): non-members AISB members General: #90 #60 Full-time students: #75 #45 APPLICATION should be made (before 25th February) by sending email to Dr Frank Ritter at ritter@psyc.nott.ac.uk, who will reply with a form to be returned. Alternatively, write to him at the address above. ============================================================================== CALL FOR PARTICIPATION TUTORIAL TITLE: Computing and cognition as information compression ORGANISER: Dr J G Wolff DATE: Monday 11th April, morning. ABSTRACT: This tutorial develops the idea that, in many aspects, the storage and processing of information in computers and in brains may usefully be understood as information compression. This idea is the basis of current research aiming to develop a 'new generation' computing system which integrates AI functions. The tutorial will briefly review the history of research in this area. It will then examine what is meant by information and, in particular, what is meant by redundancy, a concept which is fundamental in all methods for information compression. Principles of information compression will be described. Most of the tutorial will describe how these principles may be seen in varied aspects of computing and cognition: the phenomena of adaptation and inhibition in nervous systems; `neural' computing; the creation and recognition of `objects' and `classes' in perception and cognition; stereoscopic vision and random-dot stereograms; the organisation of natural languages; the organisation of grammars; grammar discovery and language learning; the organisation of functional, structured, logic and object-oriented computer programs; the discovery and execution of `functions'; the application and de-referencing of identifiers in computing; retrieval of information from databases; access and retrieval of information from computer memory; logical deduction and resolution theorem proving; inductive reasoning and probabilistic inference; parsing; normalisation of databases. The `SP' system, which is dedicated to information compression by pattern matching, unification and search, will be described with examples of what current prototypes can do. The wider significance of information compression in computing and cognition will be considered briefly. TOPICS TO BE COVERED INCLUDE: Information, redundancy and information compression; concepts and observations in computing and cognition which may understood as information compression; the SP system; the significance of informatio compression. REQUIRED BACKGROUND: Attendees should have some experience of computer programming. Some background in AI, cognitive science, computing or related areas would be useful. REASONS FOR ATTENDING: There are two main motives for work in this area: * Simplification and integration of concepts in computing and cognition. * Development of 'new generation' computing systems with more flexibility and 'intelligence' than conventional computers. Registration fee (including cost of materials): non-members AISB members General: #70 #40 Full-time students: #55 #25 Applications should be made before 25th February. CORRESPONDENCE: Dr J G Wolff, School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Systems, University of Wales, Dean Street, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 1UT, UK. Telephone: +44 248 382691. E-mail: gerry@sees.bangor.ac.uk. Fax: +44 248 361429. ======================================================================= CALL for PARTICIPATION in the POSTGRADUATE WORKSHOP to be presented at the AISB Workshop Series, University of Leeds 11th & 12th April 1994 Ann Blandford Hyacinth Nwana Medical Research Council Dept. of Computer Science Applied Psychology Unit University of Keele Cambridge Many postgraduate students become academically isolated as a result of working in specialised domains within fairly small departments. This workshop is aimed at providing a forum for graduate students in AI, Cognitive Science and any aspect of the Simulation of Behaviour to present and discuss their ideas with other students in related areas. In addition there will invited presentations from a number of prominent researchers in AI and in Cognitive Science. A series of group discussions are planned, including study for and completion of theses, life after a doctorate, paper refereeing and how to make use of your supervisor. These are provisional subject to requests from propective attendees. All attendees should expect to present an introduction to their research during the workshop. Attendance is by invitation. Tutors include: Dr Roger Boyle (University of Leeds) Dr Rick Cooper (University College, London) Dr Frank Ritter (University of Nottingham) Dr Richard Young (MRC - Cambridge) Dr Paul Kearney (Sharp Labs.) Applicants are asked to submit a two-page abstract of their current work. Some selected extended abstracts or full papers will be considered for publication in AISB Quarterly. Please send 2-page abstract before 28th January to: Dr Ann Blandford MRC, Applied Psychology Unit 15, Chaucer Road Cambridge CB2 2EF , UK. EMAIL: JANET: ann.blandford@uk.ac.cam.mrc-apu INTERNET: ann.blandfors@mrc-apu.cam.ac.uk Tel: (+44) (0) 223 355294 Fax: (+44) (0) 223 359062 Electronic submission (plain ascii text) is highly preferred, but hard copy submission is also acceptable. Cost of Registration: #55 (AISB members) (including all materials and lunches) #85 (non-members) We are restricting the number of places. So hurry! =======================================================================