This award will enable Dr. Philip D. Laird of the NASA Ames Research Center to conduct collaborative research for six months with Dr. Taisuke Sato of the Electrotechnical Laboratory (ETL) Tsukuba, Japan. They will conduct research in the area of machine learning. In artificial intelligence applications, analytical learning algorithms are meant to find ways to avoid unproductive steps by assessing the performance of a machine program as it runs. This project will experimentally evaluate problem-specific analytical learning algorithms. Techniques for implementing the analytical learning component will be explored. A model for designing the utility component of the learning element, so that the changes proposed by the analytical learning algorithms can be evaluated and intergrated into the program, will be developed. Research in the area of analytical learning remains largely theoretical. Dr. Sato's research group at ETL, working on logical inference and knowledge representation and acquisition, will be able to provide effective testbeds for concepts developed by the P.I.
