Commonsense Computing

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Architectures for Commonsense

Marvin Minsky has proposed the Emotion Machine architecture for [#Resourcefulness resourceful] commonsense thinking. Its main premise is that we need many ways to represent knowledge, solve problems and learn from mistakes. The underlying structure is a simple 6-layered organization, Model-6, where each layer has specialized critics, that match patterns against a case-library, and selectors, which arbitrate between the many different ways to respond to the problem. The job of a selector can vary from invoking a representation, a procedure, or debugging another representation.

Problem Solving in Model-6

See Glossary for an explanation of the interrelated terms such as: goals, actions, problems and plans.

Problems are identified in terms of a rule-based system called the Critic-Selector model, where a critic observes the problem and a selector a way for it to be solved. In the Model-6 architecture, each layer specializes in a specific type of problem solving, so that each layer has a collection of critics that identify and propose ways to solve problems (see EM-ONE, for an implementation of the first three layers of Model-6 Singh, 2005).

• Reactive Critics: Notice problems in the internal descriptions of the world and proposes goals.
• Deliberative Critics: Classify goals and propose ways to achieve them based on past epsiodes
• Reflective Critics: Recognize problems in the deliberative layer, including planning, and suggest ways to improve the problem sovling.
• Self-Reflective Critics:
• Self-Conscious Critics:

Self-Conscious Thinking and Goals

Where do high-level goals come from? High-level goals determine which problems an agent tries to solve, thus determining the subjects they "think about." It would