INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ON NEURAL NETS <<E.R. CAIANIELLO>>

Fri Sep 10 13:33:30 EDT 1999

[We apologize for multiple copies]

4th Course: Subsymbolic Computation in Artificial Intelligence

ERICE-SICILY: October 24-31, 1999

Motivations

Autonomous intelligent agents that perform complex real world
tasks must be able to build and process rich internal
representations that allow them to effectively draw inferences,
make decisions, and, in general, perform reasoning processes
concerning their own tasks.

Within the computational framework of artificial intelligence
(AI) this problem has been faced in different ways. According to
the classical, symbolic approach, internal representations are
conceived in terms of linguistic structures, as expressions of a
"language of thought". Other traditions developed approaches
that are less linguistically oriented, and more biologically and
anatomically motivated. It is the case of neural networks, and of
self-organizing and evolutionary algorithms.
Empirical results concerning natural intelligent systems suggest
that such approaches are not fully incompatible, and that
different kinds of representation may interact. Similarly, it can be
argued that the design of artificial intelligent systems can take
advantage from different kinds of interacting representations,
that are suited for different tasks.

In this perspective, theoretical frameworks and methodological
techniques are needed, that allow to employ together in a
principled way different kinds of representation. In particular,
autonomous agents need to find the meaning for the symbols
they use within their internal processes and in the interaction
with the external world, thus overcoming the well-known symbol
grounding problem.

An information processing architecture for autonomous
intelligent agents should exhibit processes that act on suitable
intermediate levels, which are intermediary among sensory
data, symbolic level, and actions. These processes could be
defined in terms of subsymbolic computation paradigms, such
as neural networks, self-organizing, and evolutionary
algorithms.

DIRECTOR OF THE COURSE: Salvatore Gaglio
DIRECTOR OF THE SCHOOL: M.I.,Jordan – M. Marinaro
DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRE: A. Zichichi
SCIENTIFIC SECRETARIAT: Edoardo Ardizzone,
Antonio Chella, Marcello Frixione

WEB PAGE OF THE SCHOOL: http://www.cere.pa.cnr.it/ScuolaErice/

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PROGRAM

FOUNDATIONS

Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
L. CARLUCCI AIELLO, University of Rome "La Sapienza", Rome, Italy

Neural modelling of higher order cognitive processes
J. TAYLOR, King's College, London, UK

Connections Models for Data Structures
M. GORI, University of Siena, Siena, Italy

Neural Systems Engineering
I. ALEXANDER, Imperial College, London, UK

ASEIT (Advanced School on Electronics and Information Technology)
OPEN INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON SUBSYMBOLIC TECHNIQUES AND ALGORITHMS

P. GARDENFORS, Lund University, Sweden
I. ALEXANDER, Imperial College, London, UK
T. KOHONEN, Helsinki University of Technology, Finland
J. TAYLOR, King's College, London, UK
R. ARKIN, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA

REPRESENTATION

Conceptual Spaces
P.GARDENFORS, Lund University, Sweden

Topological Self Organizing Maps
T. KOHONEN, Helsinki University of Technology, Finland

Symbolic Representation
L. CARLUCCI AIELLO, University of Rome "La Sapienza", Rome, Italy

VISUAL PERCEPTION

Evolutionary Processes for Artificial Perception
G. ADORNI, University of Parma, Italy
S. CAGNONI, University of Parma, Italy

Cognitive Architectures for Artificial Intelligence
M. FRIXIONE, University of Salerno
S. GAGLIO, University of Palermo

Algorithms for computer vision
V. DI GESU', University of Palermo, Italy

ACTION

Motion Maps
P. MORASSO, University of Genoa, Italy

The self-organisation of grounded languages on autonomous robots
L. STEELS, Free University of Brussels, Belgium

Reinforcement Learning in Autonomous Robots
C. BALKENIUS, Lund University, Sweden

Behaviour-Based Robotics
R. ARKIN, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA

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APPLICATIONS

Interested candidates should send a letter to the Director of the Course:

Professor Salvatore GAGLIO
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Automatica e Informatica
Universita' di Palermo
Viale delle Scienze
90128 - PALERMO - ITALY
E-mail: gaglio at unipa.it

They should specify:
1.date and place of birth, together with present nationality;
2.affiliation;
3.address, e-mail address.

Please enclose a letter of recommendation from the group leader
or the Director of the Institute or from a senior scientist.

PLEASE NOTE

Participants must arrive in Erice on October 24, not later than 5:00 pm.

IMPORTANT

The total fee, which includes full board and lodging (arranged
by the School), is EURO 1000 (about 1000 USD). Thanks to the
generosity of the sponsoring institutions, partial or full
support can be granted to some deserving students who need
financial aid. Requests to this effect must be specified and
justified in the letter of application.

Closing date for application: September 20, 1999

A limited number of places is available. Admission to the
Workshop will be decided in consultation with the Advisory
Committee of the School composed of Professors S. Gaglio,
M. Marinaro, and A. Zichichi.

An area for some contributed poster presentations will be
available. These will be selected on the bases of an abstract
of two A4 pages to be sent to the Director of the Course before
September 20, 1999.