Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

A “Consciousness” Based Architecture for a Functioning Mind

Stan Franklinand the

Conscious Software Research GroupInstitute for Intelligent Systems

University of Memphis

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

The Conscious Software Research The Conscious Software Research GroupGroup

• Stan Franklin• Art Graesser• Sri Satish Ambati• Ashraf Anwar• Myles Bogner* • Arpad Kelemen• Ravikumar Kondadadi• Lee McCauley• Irina Makkaveeva

• Aregahegn Negatu• Uma Ramamurthy• Alexei Stoliartchouk• Zhouhua Zhang• Scott Dodson* • Gurumoorthy Nagasubramanian*• Brent Olde* • Hongjun Song* • Yun Wan*

* former member off to better things

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

Autonomous Agent

An autonomous agent is a system

• situated within and a part of an environment

• that senses that environment

• and acts on it,

• over time,

• in pursuit of its own agenda

• so as to effect what it senses in the future.

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

Examples

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

Global Workspace Theory

• A psychological theory of consciousness

• The nervous system is a distributed parallel system with many different specialized processors

• Global workspace contains a coalition of processors

• Broadcasts globally to all other processors

• Recruit other processors needed for any degree of novel or problematic situation

• Explains limited capacity and seriality

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

Contexts at work

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

Why a ‘Conscious’ Agent?

• Flesh out the theory with detailed architecture and mechanisms

• Hypotheses for cognitive scientists and neuroscientists

• Produce flexible, adaptive, human-like software

• Want smart agents? Model them after humans.

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

IDA: an Intelligent Distribution Agent

Detailer

Telephone

Read personnel dataCheck job requisition listAdhere to Navy policiesChoose jobs to offer membersNegotiate with members Write orders Internet

IDA

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

Modules and Mechanisms• Perception—Copycat Architecture—Hofstadter• Action Selection—Behavior Net—Maes• Associative Memory—Sparse Distributed Memory—Kanerva• Episodic Memory—Case-based Memory• Emotions—Pandemonium Theory—Jackson• Metacognition—Fuzzy Classifier Systems—Holland, Zadeh• Learning—Copycat Architecture, Case-based Reasoning• Constraint Satisfaction—Linear Functional• Language Generation—Pandemonium Theory• Deliberation—Pandemonium Theory• “Consciousness” —Pandemonium Theory

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

IDA’s Architecture

“Consciousness”Perception

Metacognition

AssociativeMemory

EpisodicMemory

Behavior Net

Emotions

DatabasePerception

LinearFunctional Deliberation Negotiation Write

Orders

Conceptual& Behavioral

Learning

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

Levels of abstraction

• High level– behaviors– message type nodes– emotions– metacognitive actions– etc.

• Low level– codelets

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

Codelets

• Small pieces of code each performing a simple, specialized task• Acts as a demon, always watching for a chance to act• Most subserve some high level entity, e.g.

– behavior– slipnet node– metacognitive action

• Some codelets work on their own, e.g.– watching for incoming mail– checking for time and place conflicts

• Codelets do almost all the work• IDA is a multi-agent system

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

Perception via a Slipnet

preference acceptance information request

location

San Diego Miami Norfolk Jacksonville. . .

Norfolk norfolk nor NRFK

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

Associative Memory

Working memory

Focus

Sparse Distribute Memory — Boolean Space — dim = N (enough to code features) bit vector

Perception Behavior Net Emotion Deliberation

JobList

OutgoingMessage

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

Coalitions and Consciousness

• Coalition manager

• Spotlight manager

• Broadcast mechanism

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

Behavior Net in Action

Behavior net templates

Behavior net

Side lines

Playing field

Stands

WorkSpace

Broadcast

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

A Behavior Stream

Find and movea template

Compose an acknowledgment

Find an emailaddress

Drive to Acknowledge

From the Sidelines

Activation from drive

Activation from the environment, external or internal

Send an acknowledgement

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

Deliberation

• Faced with a goal or problem • Imagine possible plans or solutions

– Scenarios– Routes – Internal virtual reality—Dawkins

• Evaluate them– Using reason– Using emotions

• Choose among them

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

IDA’s Deliberation

• Create scenes– May require objects, actors, concepts, relations, frames– Organized around events

• Build scenarios as sequences of scenes

• Choose between scenarios, discarding some

Using Barsalou’s perceptual symbol systems as a guide

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

“Consciousness” in Action

Associative Memory

Working memoryFocus

PlayingField

Stands

OutgoingMessage

JobList

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

Metacognition

• Thinking about thinking

• What Sloman calls meta-management

• Influences action selection strategies

– More or less opportunistic, thoughtful or goal-oriented

• Influences resource allocation

• Fuzzy classifier system

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

Learning

• Associative learning via pandemonium theory

• Associative learning via sparse distributed memory

• Perceptual learning via case-based reasoning

• Behavioral learning via case-based reasoning

• Metacognitive learning via classifiers

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

Modeling Cognition

• Situated (embodied) cognition—Varela, Thompson & Roach

• Perceptual symbol systems—Barsalou

• Memory via actions—Glenberg

• Global workspace theory—Baars

• Cognitive architecture—Sloman

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

Sloman’s Architecture

Functioning Mind

Stan Franklin

Web and Email Addresses

• Stan Franklin stan.franklin@memphis.edu—www.msci.memphis.edu/~franklin

• “Conscious” Software Research Group www.msci.memphis.edu/~csrg

• CMattie Project—www.msci.memphis.edu/~cmattie

• IDA Project—www.msci.memphis.edu/~ida