Interactive Tools for Learning AI Concepts

Programs and programming systems you can use for hands-on experience with AI concepts.

INSTRUCTIONAL TOOKS

• AISpace -- a collection of Java applets developed at the University of British Columbia designed as interactive tools for learning and exploring AI concepts. An especially valuable resource for instructors of introductory AI courses, and students in those classes.
• Exhaustive Search Demo -- Explanation and online demo of exhaustive search from Rutgers class notes.
• Simulated Annealing Demo with Traveling Salesman Problem -- Explanation and interactive demo of simulated annealing by Frits Beukers, Professor of Mathematics, Utrecht University, the Netherlands.

PROGRAMMING SYSTEMS

• CLIPS. Maintained by Gary Riley. "One of the results of research in the area of artificial intelligence has been the development of techniques which allow the modeling of information at higher levels of abstraction. These techniques are embodied in languages or tools which allow programs to be built that closely resemble human logic in their implementation and are therefore easier to develop and maintain. These programs, which emulate human expertise in well defined problem domains, are called expert systems. The availability of expert system tools, such as CLIPS, has greatly reduced the effort and cost involved in developing an expert system. Rule-based programming is one of the most commonly used techniques for developing expert systems. In this programming paradigm, rules are used to represent heuristics, or 'rules of thumb,' which specify a set of actions to be performed for a given situation. A rule is composed of an if portion and a then portion. ... The origins of the C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS) date back to 1984 at NASA's Johnson Space Center. ... CLIPS is now maintained independently from NASA as public domain software." - excerpt from, What is CLIPS?
• U.Mass Multi-Agent Software Systems. Includes the Java Agent Framework which allows you to build agents using component-based programming. It is intended primarily as a development kit, not as an out-of-the box agent utility. From the U. Mass. The Multi-Agent Systems Lab. Director: Professor Victor Lesser, Associate Director: Dr. Dan Corkill.