This is an old revision of the document!

INTRODUCTION

Ingredients

Artificial Intelligence	A field of research. The scientific pursuit of making machines with intelligence. Also used to label products (software, machines, ideas, theory) that use results from AI research.
Data	Result of a measurement.
Information	Measurement.
Correlation	Relation between two or more measurements of information.
Knowledge	Useful information. Information that can be used for various purposes.
Agency	The act of using knowledge to get stuff done.
Agent	The physical locus/embodiment of agency. A system that can sense and act in an environment to do tasks.
Causation	A relation between entities in the physical world that allows us to achieve goals and predict events.
Perception / Percept	A process (perception) and its product (percept) that is part of the cognitive apparatus of intelligent systems. It feeds on measurements.
Goal	A specification of a world sub-state. The resulting state after a successful change.
Task	A problem that is assigned to be solved by an agent.
Environment	The constraints that may interfere with achieving a goal.
Plan	The partial set of actions that an agent assumes will achieve the goal.
Planning	The act of generating a plan.

SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS

Ethics of AI: General Concepts

Artificial Intelligence	AI was given its name and mission in 1956. It is the only scientific field dedicated to understanding the phenomenon of intelligence. Its target is to reach a theoretical level of breadth and depth that allows the implementation of intelligence in machines. Many products (software, machines, theory, ideas) may result from AI research, but no all deserve the label “AI”.
Perception / Percept	A process (perception) and its product (percept) that is part of the cognitive apparatus of intelligent systems. It feeds on measurements.
Goal	A specification of a world sub-state. The resulting state after a successful change.
Task	A problem that is assigned to be solved by an agent.
Environment	The constraints that may interfere with achieving a goal.
Plan	The partial set of actions that an agent assumes will achieve the goal.
Planning	The act of generating a plan.
Agent	The physical locus/embodiment of agency. A system that can sense and act in an environment to do tasks.
Agency	The act of using knowledge to get stuff done.
Autonomy	The state of a system of being self-contained and capable of steering its own operation.

Correlation, Knowledge, Causation

Data	Result of a measurement. Typically “raw numbers” (simple semantics).
Correlation	A measure of the repeated co-occurrence of two or more measurements. Some variables co-vary when changes in one variable are related with changes in the other, negative or positive.
Correlation: Powerful tool	Any variables in the world can be measured for correlation. Only two variables are needed (independent and dependent) for doing correlation studies. There is no causation without correlation. BUT: Correlation does not imply causation between the measured variables!
Information	“Data with a purpose.” Structured measurements and their relations. Processed and prepared data. Data organized at more than one level of detail.
Knowledge	Useful information. Information that can be used for various purposes.
Causation	A relation between entities in the physical world that allows us to achieve goals and predict events. Main operating principle behind correlation. There is no correlation without causation.

Empirical Science (or just 'science')

Empiricism	The claim that “the world is its own best model” – that is, no matter what our preconceived notions of how the world works are, the world is the ultimate judge of how it works.
'Empiricism' the term	The term comes from Greek ('empeiria'), meaning “experience”. Descartes put it clearly when asking the question “How can I be sure that I exist?” when he answered with the no-famous phrase “I think, therefore I am”.
Empiricism in science	Modern science takes the idea of empiricism to its ultimate conclusion: Let's find the best way to create the most reliable way of creating trustworthy knowledge about the world.
Comparative experiments	…are the key form that this creation has taken, but in fact many other forms of reliable knowledge creation, besides controlled comparative experiments, are in use. The key to them is the systematic categorization and estimation of the uncertainty of the information they produce. By knowing these, the trustworthiness of the knowledge produced can be assessed, and appropriate action taken when the knowledge is used.
The Content of Scientific Knowledge	…is essentially rules about the causal behaviors and relations of things. Causality is a way to extract compact knowledge about any complex system that contains regularities. It works for the physical world because the physical world is highly regular.

What is a Theory? What is a Hypothesis?

Theory (isl. kenning)	“A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena.” REF A theory is a relatively big explanation, covering several phenomena, often through a single principle, or a set of simple principles.
Hypothesis (isl. tilgáta)	Is a prediction about the relationship between a limited set of phenomena, typically formulated as measurable variables, as explained by a particular theory.

The Scientific Method: The Comparative Experiment (ísl. samanburðartilraun)

Identification, description and formalization of phenomenon	1. Observation and description of a phenomenon or group of phenomena.
Hypothesis (and null-hypothesis)	2. Formulation of an hypothesis to explain the phenomena. In physics, the hypothesis often takes the form of a causal mechanism or a mathematical relation. Null-hypothesis of a hypothesis is the claim that it is false - i.e. that some relationship that it proposes does not hold.
Creation of experimental setup to test hypothesis	3. Use of the hypothesis to predict the existence of other phenomena, or to predict quantitatively the results of new observations.
Perform experiment; collect & analyze results	Performance of experimental tests of the predictions by several independent experimenters and properly performed experiments. Basic assumption: Repeatability – Can be repeated by anyone anywhere.
Repeatability requires formal framework	Detailed description, clear goals, clear (limited) scope, hence the formalities in their execution.
Key idea: Comparison	Baseline collected in same experimental setup without any other intervention by experimenter.
Key way of comparing	Empirical experiments.
Bottom line	Scientific research is a slow and expensive process. But it's the best one we've got (so far). And it's completely worth it.

Causation

What it is	A relation between entities in the physical world that allows us to achieve goals and predict events.
Why it's important	The comparative experiment (“the scientific method”) is based on the assumption that such relations exist, i.e. that the world has regularities.
How it relates to logic	If causal relations are rules, and the world has regularity, then the world is rules-based. Reasoning is the method of following logic when working with rules. It means we can reason about the world.
Types of (basic) causal relations	A→B & A→C : A causes B and C. A→B→C : A causes B and B causes C [A+B]→C : A and B together cause C. A→C, B→C : Both A and B are sufficient to cause B.
Time and Causation	The temporal relation between cause and effect is strict on time: Effects cannot happen before causes.

Scientific Method: Independent of Topic

Phenomenon	The world is filled with “stuff”. Anything is a “thing” - even “nothing” is a thing (a concept in our minds, which is represented as neural patterns and potential for behavior). We can group any arbitrary collection of things and call it a phenomenon. Example: A rock. A mountain. A planet. (If I say that I want to study “thingamajigs” - something you've never heard of - I will first have to list some of the major ways in which thingamajigs can be identified. In fact, this is a good idea anyway, so as to be clear and consistent about what it is that one is studying.)
The scientific method is independent of topic…	One can study any phenomenon with the scientific method, including claims of telepathy; selection of topic is independent of method – there is nothing inherently “unscientific” about studying any subject. (Close-mindedness is, however, very unscientific.) In other words, given that science gets us the most reliable (“best”) knowledge to build on at any time, we should take it seriously. But not so seriously as to exclude the possibility that it's wrong. (Because in fact we already know that all scientific knowledge is wrong – i.e. every scientific theory to date has limits to its scope that we know of.)
How can we trust our knowledge?	The scientific method is a General Way of Producing Trustworthy Knowledge. It is independent of topic. Therefore, it can also be used for AI systems. (In fact, it can easily be argued that something very similar to the scientific method is happening when humans learn cumulatively – with a few caveats that we will carefully cover in this course.)

Theories of the Scientific Method (Philosophy of Science)

Scientific Theories	The most powerful method by which science advances. By proposing a theory of a phenomenon, a scientific theory provides a holistic “story” about the relation between known parts of a phenomenon, and sometimes predict the existence of others unknown ones.
A Scientific Theory Explains

Center for Analysis and Design of Intelligent Agents

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

Ingredients

SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS

Ethics of AI: General Concepts

Correlation, Knowledge, Causation

Empirical Science (or just 'science')

What is a Theory? What is a Hypothesis?

The Scientific Method: The Comparative Experiment (ísl. samanburðartilraun)

Causation

Scientific Method: Independent of Topic

Theories of the Scientific Method (Philosophy of Science)