PRICAI 2000 Topics in Artificial Intelligence

PRICAI 2000, held in Melbourne, Australia, is the sixth Pacific Rim Interna­ tional Conference on Artificial Intelligence and is the successor to the five earlier PRICAIs held in Nagoya (Japan), Seoul (Korea), Beijing (China), Cairns (Aus­ tralia) and Singapore in the years 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996 and 1998 respectively. PRICAI is the leading conference in the Pacific Rim region for the presenta­ tion of research in Artificial Intelligence, including its applications to problems of social and economic importance. The objectives of PRICAI are: To provide a forum for the introduction and discussion of new research results, concepts and technologies; To provide practising engineers with exposure to and an evaluation of evolving research, tools and practices; To provide the research community with exposure to the problems of practical applications of AI; and To encourage the exchange of AI technologies and experience within the Pacific Rim countries. PRICAI 2000 is a memorial event in the sense that it is the last one in the 20"" century. It reflects what researchers in this region believe to be promising for their future AI research activities. In fact, some salient features can be seen in the papers accepted. We have 12 papers on agents, while PRICAI 96 and 98 had no more than two or three. This suggests to us one of the directions in which AI research is going in the next century. It is true that agent research provides us with a wide range of research subjects from basic ones to applications.

Invited Talks.- Automated Haggling: Building Artificial Negotiators.- Information Geometry of Neural Networks.- Knowledge Representation, Belief Revision, and the Challenge of Optimality.- Artificial Intelligence Applications in Electronic Commerce.- Towards a Next-Generation Search Engine.- Logic and Foundations of AI.- The Gap between Symbol and Non-symbol Processing.- Argumentation Semantics for Defeasible Logics.- A Unifying Semantics for Causal Ramifications.- Inconsistency and Preservation.- Induction and Logic Programming.- Inductive Inference of Chess Player Strategy.- Compiling Logical Features into Specialized State-Evaluators by Partial Evaluation, Boolean Tables and Incremental Calculation.- Using Domain Knowledge in ILP to Discover Protein Functional Models.- The Hyper System: Knowledge Reformation for Efficient First-Order Hypothetical Reasoning.- Determination of General Concept in Learning Default Rules.- Reinforcement Learning.- A Theory of Profit Sharing in Dynamic Environment.- Experience-Based Reinforcement Learning to Acquire Effective Behavior in a Multi-agent Domain.- A Region Selecting Method Which Performs Observation and Action in the Multi-resolution Environment.- Machine Learning.- RWS (Random Walk Splitting): A Random Walk Based Discretization of Continuous Attributes.- The Lumberjack Algorithm for Learning Linked Decision Forests.- Efficient Iris Recognition System by Optimization of Feature Vectors and Classifier.- A Classifier Fitness Measure Based on Bayesian Likelihoods: An Approach to the Problem of Learning from Positives Only.- Evaluating Noise Correction.- An Efficient Learning Algorithm Using Natural Gradient and Second Order Information of Error Surface.- Knowledge Discovery.- Fast and Robust General Purpose Clustering Algorithms.- An Algorithm for Checking Dependencies of Attributes in a Table with Non-deterministic Information: A Rough Sets Based Approach.- Tropical Cyclone Intensity Forecasting Model: Balancing Complexity and Goodness of Fit.- Bayesian Networks.- Trading Off Granularity against Complexity in Predictive Models for Complex Domains.- Recognizing Intentions from Rejoinders in a Bayesian Interactive Argumentation System.- Efficient Inference in Dynamic Belief Networks with Variable Temporal Resolution.- Beliefs and Intentions in Agents.- Epistemic States Guiding the Rational Dynamics of Information.- Merging Epistemic States.- Perceiving Environments for Intelligent Agents.- A Preference-Based Theory of Intention.- Autonomous Agents.- Autonomy of Autonomous Agents.- Constructing an Autonomous Agent with an Interdependent Heuristics.- Unified Criterion of State Generalization for Reactive Autonomous Agents.- From Brain Theory to Autonomous Robotic Agents.- Agent Systems.- A Multi-agent Approach for Optical Inspection Technology.- The Use of Mobile Agents in Tracing an Intruder in a Local Area Network.- A Framework to Model Multiple Environments in Multiagent Systems.- Task Models, Intentions, and Agent Conversation Policies.- Genetic Algorithms.- Genetic Algorithm with Knowledge-Based Encoding for Interactive Fashion Design.- Designing Wastewater Collection Systems Using Genetic Algorithms.- Hybrid Genetic Algorithms Are Better for Spatial Clustering.- Genetic Programming.- Improving Performance of GP by Adaptive Terminal Selection.- Evolving Neural Networks for Decomposable Problems Using Genetic Programming.- Constraint Satisfaction.- Dual Encoding Using Constraint Coverings.- Consistency in General CSPs.- Neural Networks.- Need for Optimisation Techniques to Select Neural Network Algorithms for Process Modelling of Reduction Cell.- Productivity Improvements through Prediction of Electrolyte Temperature in Aluminium Reduction Cell Using BP Neural Network.- Pruned Neural Networks for Regression.- Optimal Design of Neural Nets Using Hybrid Algorithms.- Markov Decision Processes.- A POMDP Approximation Algorithm That Anticipates the Need to Observe.- Generating Hierarchical Structure in Reinforcement Learning from State Variables.- Robotics.- Humanoid Active Audition System Improved by the Cover Acoustics.- Overcoming the Effects of Sensory Delay by Using a Cerebellar Model.- Layered Specification of Intelligent Agents.- Image Processing and Pattern Recognition.- Sub-pixel Precise Edge Localization: A ML Approach Based on Color Distributions.- Efficient Joint Detection Considering Complexity of Contours.- Feature-Based Face Recognition: Neural Network Using Recognition-by-Recall.- Segmentation of Connected Handwritten Chinese Characters Based on Stroke Analysis and Background Thinning.- A Framework of Two-Stage Combination of Multiple Recognizers for Handwritten Numerals.- Natural Language Processing.- Aligning Portuguese and Chinese Parallel Texts Using Confidence Bands.- Interactive Japanese-to-Braille Translation Using Case-Based Knowledge on the Web.- Speech and Spoken Language.- Psychological Effects Derived from Mimicry Voice Using Inarticulate Sounds.- Statistical Model Based Approach to Spoken Language Acquisition.- AI in Web Technology.- Discovery of Shared Topics Networks among People.- Collaborative Filtering with the Simple Bayesian Classifier.- Supervised and Unsupervised Learning Algorithms for Thai Web Pages Identification.- Solving the Personal Computer Configuration Problems as Discrete Optimization Problems: A Preliminary Report.- Intelligent Systems.- Improved Efficiency of Oil Well Drilling through Case Based Reasoning.- Functional Understanding Based on an Ontology of Functional Concepts.- Probabilistic Modeling of Alarm Observation Delay in Network Diagnosis.- A Diagnosis Function of Arithmetical Word Problems for Learning by Problem Posing.- Combining Kalman Filtering and Markov Localization in Network-Like Environments.- AI and Music.- Microbes and Music.- A Lightweight Multi-agent Musical Beat Tracking System.- Posters.- Frame-Structure Logic with Extended Attribute Relations.- Fast Hypothetical Reasoning by Parallel Processing.- TURAS: A Personalised Route Planning System.- Analysis of Phase Transitions in Graph-Coloring Problems Based on Constraint Structures.- Minimal Model Generation with Factorization and Constrained Search.- Method of Ideal Solution in Fuzzy Set Theory and Multicriteria Decision Making.- A New Axiomatic Framework for Prioritized Fuzzy Constraint Satisfaction Problems.- Constraint Satisfaction over Shared Multi-set Value Domains.- Algorithms for Solving the Ship Berthing Problem.- Temporal Interval Logic in Data Mining.- Data Mining in Disease Management — A Diabetes Case Study.- A Limited Lattice Structure for Incremental Association Mining.- Markov Modelling of Simple Directional Features for Effective and Efficient Handwriting Verification.- Texture Analysis and Classification Using Bottom-Up Tree-Structured Wavelet Transform.- A Stereo Matching Algorithm Using Adaptive Window and Search Range.- A Design of Rescue Agents for RoboCup-Rescue.- A Cooperative Architecture to Control Multi-agent Based Robots.- Automatic Development of Robot Behaviour Using Monte Carlo Methods.- Adapting Behavior by Inductive Prediction in Soccer Agents.- Computing the Local Space of a Mobile Robot.- Learning Situation Dependent Success Rates of Actions in a RoboCup Scenario.- Cooperative Bidding Mechanisms among Agents in Multiple Online Auctions.- Framework of Distributed Simulation System for Multi-agent Environment.- Dependence Based Coalitions and Contract Net: A Comparative Analysis.- A Tracer for Debugging Multi-agent System Based on P-Q Signal Method.- A Multi-agent Approach for Simulating Bushfire Spread.- Multi-agent Cooperative Reasoning Using Common Knowledge and Implicit Knowledge.- Life-Like Agent Design Based on Social Interaction.- Agent-Oriented Programming in Linear Logic: An Example.- Emotional Intelligence for Intuitive Agents.- Formalization for the Agent Method by Using ?-Calculus.- Utilization of Coreferences for the Translation of Utterances Containing Anaphoric Expressions.- Word Alignment Using a Matrix.- Deterministic Japanese Word Segmentation by Decision List Method.- Criteria to Choose Appropriate Graph-Types.- A Document Classifier Based on Word Semantic Association.- Incorporation of Japanese Information Retrieval Method Using Dependency Relationship into Probabilistic Retrieval.- A Step Towards Integration of Learning Theories to Form an Effective Collaborative Learning Group.- Model-Based Software Requirements Design.- Acquiring Factual Knowledge through Ontological Instantiation.- Intrusion Detection by Combining Multiple Hidden Markov Models.- Conceptual Classification and Browsing of Internet FAQs Using Self-Organizing Neural Networks.- The Role of Abduction in Internet-Based Applications.- FERRET: An Intelligent Assistant for Internet Searching.