Logic and Artificial Intelligence


NEWS

I hope you enjoyed the course! Let me know if you have any comments about the course (especially concerning the material you did/did not particularly enjoy).

Instructor: Eric Pacuit
Meeting Dates: Aug. 29 - Jan. 13, 2011
Office Hours: Wed. 11 - 12 or by appt.
Office Location: Baker Hall 161B
Meeting Times: MW 3:00PM - 4:20PM
Course Number: 80-314/614
Semester: Fall 2011
First Class: Monday, August 29, 2011
Location: PH A18C


Course Contents


Logic has played an important role in the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In turn, thinking about applications in AI has led to the development of many new and interesting logical systems. See the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry Logic and Artificial Intelligence for an interesting discussion about the relationship between (philosophical) logic and AI. This course will introduce and critically examine a number of different logical frameworks that have been developed with applications to AI in mind.

Broadly speaking, the goal of this course is to critically examine different logical frameworks that can be used to reason about rational agents interacting (with the environment and each other) over time. We will discuss the main research themes and the technical and conceptual issues that arise here. The primary objective is to understand the complex phenomena that arise when rational agents interact and how to incorporate these phenomena into formal models. Studying rational agents involves many different aspects including (but not limited to) action, knowledge, belief, desires, and revision. This course covers all these ingredients towards the goal of understanding how these things work together.

Specific topics that will be introduced during the semester include (a detailed schedule is provided below):
  1. Logics of knowledge and belief (including probabilistic models);
  2. Information dynamics and belief revision (including non-monotonic consequence relations);
  3. Logics of time, action and agency;
  4. Preference logics and preference change;
  5. Logical models of intentions (time permitting);
  6. Group phenomena and issues of social choice (time permitting); and
  7. Logics for reasoning about games (time permitting).
In fact, not all parts of this story have been developed within one single discipline. The course will also bring together several research programs: from philosophy, computer science, logic, and game theory, and try to see their various contributions in one coherent manner.



Related Courses
For more information about the topics we will discuss this semester, you can consult the webpages of the following related courses that I have taught:

Background


The course will be self-contained, but it will be useful to familiarize yourself with some general topics in modal logic throughout the semester. (I will introduce any general topics that we need during the semester.) The following books are good resources.

  • A recent book introducing the basics of some of the logical systems we will discuss this semester.
  • A modern introduction to modal logic aimed at researchers.
    • Patrick Blackburn and Johan van Benthem (2007). Modal Logic: A Semantic Introduction in: Handbook of Modal Logic, P. Blackburn, J. van Benthem and F. Wolter (editors), Elsevier, pgs. 1 - 84.
  • Advanced textbook on modal logic.
    • Patrick Blackburn, Maarten de Rijke and Yde Venema (2001). Modal Logic, Cambridge University Press.

Reading Material


Below is a list of some general surveys and textbooks covering topics we will discuss during the semester. This is not a complete list of all relevant material, but a reasonably large sampling. Consult the schedule for the specific papers and excerpts from the books below that we will discuss in class.

  • Broad Discussions of Logics of Rational Agency
    • Johan van Benthem (2007). "Logic, Rational Agency, and Intelligent Interaction," in C. Glymour, W. Wei & D. Westerståhl (eds.), Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science XIII, College Publications. (PDF)
    • Y. Shoham (2009). "Logical Theories of Intention and the Database Perspective," Journal of Philosophical Logic, 38(6): 633-648. (PDF)
    • W. van der Hoek and M. Wooldridge (2003). "Towards a logic of rational agency," Logic Journal of the IGPL, 11(2): 133-157. (PDF)
  • Logics of Knowledge and Belief
  • Belief Revision and Non-Monotonic Logics
    • A.P. Pedersen & H. Arló-Costa (2011). "Belief Revision." In L. Horsten and R. Pettigrew, editors, Continuum Companion to Philosophical Logic. Continuum Press, 2011. (Paper: PDF)
    • Hans Rott (2001). Change, Choice and Inference: A Study of Belief Revision and Nonmonotonic Reasoning, Oxford University Press.
    • David Makinson (2005). Bridges from Classical to Nonmonotonic Logic, College Publications.
    • Robert Stalnaker (2009). "Iterated Belief Revision," Erkenntnis, 70(2): 189 - 209.
  • Dynamic Logics of Knowledge and Beliefs
    • [LOGDYN] Johan van Benthem (2011). Logical Dynamics of Information and Interaction, Cambridge University Press. (This will be available only in September, I will hand out versions of his chapters as needed.)
    • Eric Pacuit (2011). "Logics of Informational Attitudes and Informative Actions", in Logic and Philosophy Today, J. van Benthem and A. Gupta (eds.), College Publications (PDF)
    • H. van Ditmarsch, W. van der Hoek and B. Kooi, Dynamic Epistemic Logic, Synthese Library, Volume 337, Springer.
  • Preference Logic and Preference Change
  • Logics for Actions, Abilities and Intention
    • Krister Segerberg, John-Jules Meyer, and Marcus Kracht, "The Logic of Action", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2009 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.).
  • Logics for Games
    • Johan van Benthem, Eric Pacuit and Olivier Roy (2011). "Games and Interaction: the Logical Perspective," Games, 2(1): 52 - 86. (PDF)


    Schedule


    Please consult this schedule regularly throughout the semester as meeting times and readings may change.

    Date Lecture Notes/Readings
    8/29 Introductory Remarks: Logics of Rational Agency Chapter 1 of [LOGDYN]
    8/31 A Primer on Epistemic Logic Introductory Notes on Modal Logic
    Chapter 12 of [MLOM]
    Sections 13.1 - 13.3 [MAS]
    9/5 No Class: Labor Day
    9/7 A Primer on Epistemic Logic, continued Introductory Notes on Modal Logic
    9/12 Logics of Knowledge and Belief EP, Logics of Informational Attitudes and Informative Actions, Sections 1 & 2.
    J. Halpern, Should Knowledge Entail Belief?, Journal of Philosophical Logic

    Problem Set 1 (Due Monday, 9/19 )
    9/14 Knowledge, Belief and Unawareness EP, Logics of Informational Attitudes and Informative Actions, Sections 1 & 2
    E. Dekel, B. Lipman and A. Rustichini, Standard State-Space Models Preclude Unawareness, Econometrica (1998)
    9/19 Common Knowledge M. Chwe Chapter 1 of Rational Ritual
    SEP Article on Common Knowledge (Sections 1, 2 and 3.1)
    Video by Steven Pinker touching on issues of common knowledge
    9/21 Common Knowledge: Agreeing to Disagree R. Aumann, Agreeing to Disagree, Annals of Statistics
    D. Samet, Agreeing to disagree: the non-probabilistic case
    9/26 Lectures 8 & 9 Handout D. Samet, Agreeing to disagree: the non-probabilistic case
    9/28 Lectures 8 & 9 Handout
    Proof of the main result
    D. Monderer and D. Samet Approximating Common Knowledge with Common Belief, Games and Economic Behavior (Section 3).

    Problem Set 2 (Due Wednesday, 10/5 )
    10/3 Introduction to Dynamic Logics of Information J. van Benthem, Chapter 15 of [MLOM]
    10/5 The Logic of Public Observation H. van Ditmarsch, W. van der Hoek, B. Kooi, Playing cards with Hintikka
    10/10 Dynamic Logics of Information Change EP, Logics of Informational Attitudes and Informative Actions, (especially Section 3.1)
    10/12 Dynamic logics of belief change EP, Logics of Informational Attitudes and Informative Actions
    R. Stalnaker (2009). "Iterated Belief Revision," Erkenntnis, 70(2): 189 - 209.
    10/17 Introduction to belief revision, part 1
    Guest Lecturer: Paul Pedersen
    A.P. Pedersen & H. Arló-Costa (2011). Belief Revision. In L. Horsten and R. Pettigrew, editors, Continuum Companion to Philosophical Logic.
    10/19 Introduction to belief revision, part 2
    Guest Lecturer: Paul Pedersen
    A.P. Pedersen & H. Arló-Costa (2011). Belief Revision. In L. Horsten and R. Pettigrew, editors, Continuum Companion to Philosophical Logic.
    10/24 Grove's Representation Theorem, I
    (see Grove's paper for more information)
    A. Grove, Two Modellings for Theory Change, Journal of Philosophical Logic, 17, pp. 157 - 170, 1988

    Problem set 3 (midterm)
    10/26 Grove's Representation Theorem, II
    (see Grove's paper for more information)
    A. Grove, Two Modellings for Theory Change, Journal of Philosophical Logic, 17, pp. 157 - 170, 1988
    10/31 Non-monotonic reasoning A. Antonelli, Non-monotonic logic, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
    J. Horty, Skepticism and floating conclusions, Artificial Intelligence, 135: 55–72, 2002.
    11/2 Belief revision and the Ramsey test P. Gardenfors (1986). Belief revisions and the Ramsey test for conditionals, The Philosophical Review, 95:1, pp. 81 - 93.
    H. Leitgib (2007). Beliefs in Conditionals Vs. Conditional Beliefs, Topoi, 26:1, pp. 115 - 132.
    11/7 Logics of Time and Agency Y. Venema, Temporal Logic, Chapter 10, L Goble (editor), The Blackwell Guide to Philosophical Logic, Blackwell Publishers, 2001, pp 203 - 223.
    G. Governatori and A. Rotolo, On the axiomatization of Elgesem's logic of agency and ability. Journal of Philosophical Logic, 34, 4, pp. 403-431, 2005.
    11/9 Logics of Abilities and Logics of Action M. Brown, On the Logic of Ability, Journal of Philosophical Logic, 17, p. 1 - 26, 1988.
    J. van Benthem et al., Chapter 6: Propositional Dynamic Logic, Logic in Action Open Course Project
    P. Balbiani, Propositional Dynamic Logic, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2007
    11/14 Introduction to STIT Logic J. Horty and N. Belnap The deliberative STIT: a study of action, omission, ability, and obligation, Journal of Philosophical Logic, vol. 24 (1995), pp. 583 - 644.
    P. Balbiani, A. Herzig and N. Troquard, Alternative Axiomatics and Complexity of Deliberative STIT Theories, Journal of Philosophical Logic, 37:4, pp. 387 - 406, 2008.
    11/16 Group action and logics of preference Everything Else Being Equal: A Modal Logic for Ceteris Paribus Preferences, Journal of Philosophical Logic, 38:1, 2009.
    M. Pauly A Modal Logic for Coalitional Power in Games, Journal of Logic and Computation, 12:1, pp. 149-166, 2002.

    Problem set 4
    11/21 Preference lifting Everything Else Being Equal: A Modal Logic for Ceteris Paribus Preferences, Journal of Philosophical Logic, 38:1, 2009.
    Y. Kannai and B. Peleg, A Note on the Extension of an Order on a Set to the Power Set, Journal of Economic Theory, Vol. 32, pg. 172 - 175, 1984.
    11/23 No Class: Thanksgiving
    11/28 Know-how, abilities, plans and logics of intention Y. Shoham (2009). Logical Theories of Intention and the Database Perspective, J. Philosophical Logic 38(6), pgs. 633-648
    Section 14.4: Yoav Shoham and Kevin Leyton-Brown, Multiagent Systems: Algorithmic, Game-Theoretic, and Logical Foundations, Cambridge University Press, 2009

    Problem set 5
    11/30 Logics for reasoning about games Johan van Benthem, Eric Pacuit and Olivier Roy, Games and Interaction: the Logical Perspective, Games, 2(1), 52 - 86
    12/5 When are two games the same?/Common knowledge of rationality J. Halpern, Substantive rationality and backward induction , Games and Economic Behavior 37, 2001, pp. 425-435.
    12/7 Common knowledge of rationality and backward induction J. Halpern, Substantive rationality and backward induction, Games and Economic Behavior 37, 2001, pp. 425-435.
    A. Baltag, S. Smets and J. Zvesper, Keep 'hoping' for rationality: a solution to the backward induction paradox, Synthese, Volume 169, Number 2, pgs. 301-333, 2009.

    Grading


    Students are required to attend all lectures and actively participate in the discussion. Final grades for the course will be calculated as follows:

    1. (40%) Exercises: Exercises will be distributed periodically (Problem Set 1, Problem Set 2, Problem Set 4, Problem Set 5).
    2. (20%) Midterm exam: Roughly half-way through the semester there will be a take-home midterm exam.
    3. (40%) Final exam: The exam will be Tuesday, December 13, 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM in PH 125C.

      The final exam will contain question testing your comprehension of some of the basic material discussed during the course.

      The best way to prepare for the exam is to study the answers to the five problem sets (electronic copies of the solutions are no longer available.)

      Specific topics include: