Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!rutgers!sri-spam!ames!ucbcad!ucbvax!RELAY.CS.NET!MUKHOP%RCSJJ%gmr.com
From: MUKHOP%RCSJJ%gmr.com@RELAY.CS.NET
Newsgroups: mod.ai
Subject: Contextual Knowledge and Multi-layer Learning
Message-ID: <8611190704.AA10869@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: Wed, 19-Nov-86 02:04:38 EST
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8611190704.AA10869
Posted: Wed Nov 19 02:04:38 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 19-Nov-86 06:07:01 EST
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The ARPA Internet
Lines: 30
Approved: ailist@sri-stripe.arpa


   I read with interest the abstract for Richard M. Keller's talk, "The Role 
of Explicit Contextual Knowledge in Learning Concepts to Improve Performance"
(V4 #258), part of which is reproduced below:

>     This  dissertation  addresses some of the difficulties encountered
> when using artificial intelligence-based, inductive  concept  learning
> methods  to  improve an existing system's performance.  The underlying
> problem is that inductive methods are insensitive to  changes  in  the
> system  being  improved by learning.  This insensitivity is due to the
> manner in which contextual knowledge is represented  in  an  inductive
> system.   Contextual knowledge consists of knowledge about the context
> in which concept learning takes place, including knowledge  about  the
> desired form and content of concept descriptions to be learned (target
> concept knowledge), and knowledge about the system to be  improved  by
> learning  and  the  type  of  improvement  desired (performance system
> knowledge).    
> ...
>     To investigate the thesis, this study  introduces  an  alternative
> concept learning framework -- the concept operationalization framework
> -- that requires various types of  contextual  knowledge  as  explicit
> inputs.    
>...

Isn't this described in the literature as a two-layer learning system 
(multi-layer in the general case) of which Samuel's checkers player is 
one of the earliest examples? What are the differences, if any?

Uttam Mukhopadhyay
GM Research Labs