Uninformed Search Algorithms

 Uninformed search is a class of general-purpose search

algorithms which operates in brute force-way.

 Uninformed search algorithms do not have additional

information about state or search space other than how to
traverse the tree, so it is also called blind search.

Following are the various types of uninformed search algorithms:

1. Breadth-first Search
2. Depth-first Search
3. Depth-limited Search
4. Iterative deepening depth-first search
5. Uniform cost search
6. Bidirectional Search
7.

1. Breadth-first Search:
o Breadth-first search is the most common search strategy for
traversing a tree or graph. This algorithm searches breadthwise
in a tree or graph, so it is called breadth-first search.
o BFS algorithm starts searching from the root node of the tree
and expands all successor node at the current level before
moving to nodes of next level.
o The breadth-first search algorithm is an example of a general-
graph search algorithm.
o Breadth-first search implemented using FIFO queue data
structure.

Advantages:
 o BFS will provide a solution if any solution exists.
o If there are more than one solutions for a given problem, then
BFS will provide the minimal solution which requires the least
number of steps.

Disadvantages:

o It requires lots of memory since each level of the tree must be

saved into memory to expand the next level.
o BFS needs lots of time if the solution is far away from the root
node.

Example:
In the below tree structure, we have shown the traversing of the tree
using BFS algorithm from the root node S to goal node K.

BFS search algorithm traverse in layers, so it will follow the path

which is shown by the dotted arrow, and the traversed path will be:

1. S---> A--->B---->C--->D---->G--->H--->E---->F---->I---->K
Time Complexity: Time Complexity of BFS algorithm can be
obtained by the number of nodes traversed in BFS until the shallowest
Node. Where the d= depth of shallowest solution and b is a node
at every state.

T (b) = 1+b2+b3+.......+ bd= O (bd)

Space Complexity: Space complexity of BFS algorithm is given by

the Memory size of frontier which is O(bd).

2. Depth-first Search
o Depth-first search is a recursive algorithm for traversing a tree
or graph data structure.
o It is called the depth-first search because it starts from the root
node and follows each path to its greatest depth node before
moving to the next path.
o DFS uses a stack data structure for its implementation.
o The process of the DFS algorithm is similar to the BFS
algorithm.

Note: Backtracking is an algorithm technique for finding all

possible solutions using recursion.

Advantage:

o DFS requires very less memory as it only needs to store a stack

of the nodes on the path from root node to the current node.
o It takes less time to reach to the goal node than BFS algorithm
(if it traverses in the right path).

Disadvantage:

o There is the possibility that many states keep re-occurring, and

there is no guarantee of finding the solution.
 o DFS algorithm goes for deep down searching and sometime it
may go to the infinite loop.

Example:
In the below search tree, we have shown the flow of depth-first
search, and it will follow the order as:

Root node--->Left node ----> right node.

It will start searching from root node S, and traverse A, then B, then D
and E, after traversing E, it will backtrack the tree as E has no
other successor and still goal node is not found.

After backtracking it will traverse node C and then G, and here it will
terminate as it found goal node.

Completeness: DFS search algorithm is complete within finite state

space as it will expand every node within a limited search tree.

Time Complexity: Time complexity of DFS will be equivalent to the

node traversed by the algorithm. It is given by:
T(n)= 1+ n2+ n3 +.........+ nm=O(nm)

Where, m= maximum depth of any node and this can be much larger
than d (Shallowest solution depth)

Space Complexity: DFS algorithm needs to store only single path

from the root node, hence space complexity of DFS is equivalent to
the size of the fringe set, which is O(bm).

Optimal: DFS search algorithm is non-optimal, as it may generate a

large number of steps or high cost to reach to the goal node.

3. Depth-Limited Search Algorithm:

 A depth-limited search algorithm is similar to depth-first
search with a predetermined limit. Depth-limited search can
solve the drawback of the infinite path in the Depth-first search.

 In this algorithm, the node at the depth limit will treat as it has
no successor nodes further.

Depth-limited search can be terminated with two Conditions of

failure:

o Standard failure value: It indicates that problem does not have

any solution.
o Cutoff failure value: It defines no solution for the problem
within a given depth limit.

Advantages:

Depth-limited search is Memory efficient.

Disadvantages:

o Depth-limited search also has a disadvantage of incompleteness.

o It may not be optimal if the problem has more than one solution.

Example:
Time Complexity: Time complexity of DLS algorithm is O(bℓ).

Space Complexity: Space complexity of DLS algorithm is O(b×ℓ).

Optimal: Depth-limited search can be viewed as a special case of

DFS, and it is also not optimal even if ℓ>d.

4. Uniform-cost Search Algorithm:

 Uniform-cost search is a searching algorithm used for traversing
a weighted tree or graph.
 This algorithm comes into play when a different cost is available
for each edge.
 The primary goal of the uniform-cost search is to find a path to
the goal node which has the lowest cumulative cost.
 Uniform-cost search expands nodes according to their path costs
form the root node.
 It can be used to solve any graph/tree where the optimal cost is
in demand.
 A uniform-cost search algorithm is implemented by the priority
queue. It gives maximum priority to the lowest cumulative cost.
 Uniform cost search is equivalent to BFS algorithm if the path
cost of all edges is the same.

Advantages:

o Uniform cost search is optimal because at every state the path

with the least cost is chosen.

Disadvantages:

o It does not care about the number of steps involve in searching

and only concerned about path cost. Due to which this algorithm
may be stuck in an infinite loop.

Example:

Completeness:

Uniform-cost search is complete, such as if there is a solution, UCS

will find it.

Time Complexity:
Let C* is Cost of the optimal solution, and ε is each step to get closer
to the goal node. Then the number of steps is = C*/ε+1. Here we have
taken +1, as we start from state 0 and end to C*/ε.

Hence, the worst-case time complexity of Uniform-cost search isO(b1

+ [C*/ε]
)/.

Space Complexity:

The same logic is for space complexity so, the worst-case space
complexity of Uniform-cost search is O(b1 + [C*/ε]).

Optimal:

Uniform-cost search is always optimal as it only selects a path with

the lowest path cost.

5. Iterative deepening depth-first Search:

 The iterative deepening algorithm is a combination of DFS and
BFS algorithms.
 This search algorithm finds out the best depth limit and does it
by gradually increasing the limit until a goal is found.
 This algorithm performs depth-first search up to a certain "depth
limit", and it keeps increasing the depth limit after each iteration
until the goal node is found.
 This Search algorithm combines the benefits of Breadth-first
search's fast search and depth-first search's memory efficiency.
 The iterative search algorithm is useful uninformed search when
search space is large, and depth of goal node is unknown.

Advantages:

o It combines the benefits of BFS and DFS search algorithm in

terms of fast search and memory efficiency.
Disadvantages:

o The main drawback of IDDFS is that it repeats all the work of

the previous phase.

Example:
Following tree structure is showing the iterative deepening depth-first
search. IDDFS algorithm performs various iterations until it does not
find the goal node. The iteration performed by the algorithm is given
as:

1'st Iteration-----> A
2'nd Iteration----> A, B, C
3'rd Iteration------>A, B, D, E, C, F, G
4'th Iteration------>A, B, D, H, I, E, C, F, K, G
In the fourth iteration, the algorithm will find the goal node.

Completeness:

This algorithm is complete is if the branching factor is finite.

Time Complexity:

Let's suppose b is the branching factor and depth is d then the worst-
case time complexity is O(bd).

Space Complexity:

The space complexity of IDDFS will be O(bd).

Optimal:

IDDFS algorithm is optimal if path cost is a non- decreasing function

of the depth of the node.

6. Bidirectional Search Algorithm:

Bidirectional search algorithm runs two simultaneous searches, one
form initial state called as forward-search and other from goal node
called as backward-search, to find the goal node. Bidirectional search
replaces one single search graph with two small subgraphs in which
one starts the search from an initial vertex and other starts from goal
vertex. The search stops when these two graphs intersect each other.

Bidirectional search can use search techniques such as BFS, DFS,

DLS, etc.

Advantages:

o Bidirectional search is fast.

o Bidirectional search requires less memory

Disadvantages:

o Implementation of the bidirectional search tree is difficult.

o In bidirectional search, one should know the goal state in
advance.

Example:
In the below search tree, bidirectional search algorithm is applied.
This algorithm divides one graph/tree into two sub-graphs. It starts
traversing from node 1 in the forward direction and starts from goal
node 16 in the backward direction.

The algorithm terminates at node 9 where two searches meet.

Completeness: Bidirectional Search is complete if we use BFS in both

searches.

Time Complexity: Time complexity of bidirectional search using BFS

is O(bd).

Space Complexity: Space complexity of bidirectional search is O(bd).

Optimal: Bidirectional search is Optimal.

 Informed Search Algorithms
 So far we have talked about the uninformed search algorithms
which looked through search space for all possible solutions of
the problem without having any additional knowledge about
search space.
 But informed search algorithm contains an array of knowledge
such as how far we are from the goal, path cost, how to reach to
goal node, etc.
 This knowledge help agents to explore less to the search space
and find more efficiently the goal node.
 The informed search algorithm is more useful for large search
space.
 Informed search algorithm uses the idea of heuristic so it is
also called Heuristic search.

Heuristics function: Heuristic is a function which is used in

Informed Search, and it finds the most promising path.

It takes the current state of the agent as its input and produces the
estimation of how close agent is from the goal.

The heuristic method, however, might not always give the best
solution, but it guaranteed to find a good solution in reasonable time.

Heuristic function estimates how close a state is to the goal. It is

represented by h(n),

and it calculates the cost of an optimal path between the pair of

states. The value of the heuristic function is always positive.

Admissibility of the heuristic function is given as:

1. h(n) <= h*(n)

Here h(n) is heuristic cost, and h*(n) is the estimated cost. Hence
heuristic cost should be less than or equal to the estimated cost.
Pure Heuristic Search:
 Pure heuristic search is the simplest form of heuristic search
algorithms.
 It expands nodes based on their heuristic value h(n).
 It maintains two lists, OPEN and CLOSED list.
 In the CLOSED list, it places those nodes which have already
expanded
 And in the OPEN list, it places nodes which have yet not been
expanded.
 On each iteration, each node n with the lowest heuristic value is
expanded and generates all its successors and n is placed to the
closed list.
 The algorithm continues unit a goal state is found.

In the informed search we will discuss two main algorithms which are
given below:

o Best First Search Algorithm(Greedy search)

o A* Search Algorithm
o Hill Climbing Algorithm

1.) Best-first Search Algorithm (Greedy Search):

 Greedy best-first search algorithm always selects the path which
appears best at that moment.
 It is the combination of depth-first search and breadth-first
search algorithms.
 It uses the heuristic function and search.
 Best-first search allows us to take the advantages of both
algorithms.
 With the help of best-first search, at each step, we can choose
the most promising node.
 In the best first search algorithm, we expand the node which is
closest to the goal node and the closest cost is estimated by
heuristic function, i.e.
1. f(n)= g(n).

Were, h(n)= estimated cost from node n to the goal.

The greedy best first algorithm is implemented by the priority

queue.

Best first search algorithm:

o Step 1: Place the starting node into the OPEN list.
o Step 2: If the OPEN list is empty, Stop and return failure.
o Step 3: Remove the node n, from the OPEN list which has the
lowest value of h(n), and places it in the CLOSED list.
o Step 4: Expand the node n, and generate the successors of node
n.
o Step 5: Check each successor of node n, and find whether any
node is a goal node or not. If any successor node is goal node,
then return success and terminate the search, else proceed to
Step 6.
o Step 6: For each successor node, algorithm checks for
evaluation function f(n), and then check if the node has been in
either OPEN or CLOSED list. If the node has not been in both
list, then add it to the OPEN list.
o Step 7: Return to Step 2.

Advantages:
o Best first search can switch between BFS and DFS by gaining
the advantages of both the algorithms.
o This algorithm is more efficient than BFS and DFS algorithms.

Disadvantages:
o It can behave as an unguided depth-first search in the worst case
scenario.
o It can get stuck in a loop as DFS.
o This algorithm is not optimal.
Example:
Consider the below search problem, and we will traverse it using
greedy best-first search. At each iteration, each node is expanded
using evaluation function f(n)=h(n) , which is given in the below
table.

In this search example, we are using two lists which

are OPEN and CLOSED Lists. Following are the iteration for
traversing the above example.
Expand the nodes of S and put in the CLOSED list

Initialization: Open [A, B], Closed [S]

Iteration 1: Open [A], Closed [S, B]

Iteration 2: Open [E, F, A], Closed [S, B]

: Open [E, A], Closed [S, B, F]

Iteration 3: Open [I, G, E, A], Closed [S, B, F]

: Open [I, E, A], Closed [S, B, F, G]

Hence the final solution path will be: S----> B----->F----> G

Time Complexity: The worst case time complexity of Greedy best

first search is O(bm).

Space Complexity: The worst case space complexity of Greedy best

first search is O(bm). Where, m is the maximum depth of the search
space.

Complete: Greedy best-first search is also incomplete, even if the

given state space is finite.
Optimal: Greedy best first search algorithm is not optimal.

2.) A* Search Algorithm:

 A* search is the most commonly known form of best-first
search.
 It uses heuristic function h(n), and cost to reach the node n from
the start state g(n).
 It has combined features of UCS and greedy best-first search, by
which it solve the problem efficiently.
 A* search algorithm finds the shortest path through the search
space using the heuristic function.
 This search algorithm expands less search tree and provides
optimal result faster.
 A* algorithm is similar to UCS except that it uses g(n)+h(n)
instead of g(n).

In A* search algorithm, we use search heuristic as well as the cost to

reach the node. Hence we can combine both costs as following, and
this sum is called as a fitness number.

At each point in the search space, only those node is expanded which have the
lowest value of f(n), and the algorithm terminates when the goal node is found.

Algorithm of A* search:
Step1: Place the starting node in the OPEN list.

Step 2: Check if the OPEN list is empty or not, if the list is empty
then return failure and stops.
Step 3: Select the node from the OPEN list which has the smallest
value of evaluation function (g+h), if node n is goal node then return
success and stop, otherwise

Step 4: Expand node n and generate all of its successors, and put n
into the closed list. For each successor n', check whether n' is already
in the OPEN or CLOSED list, if not then compute evaluation function
for n' and place into Open list.

Step 5: Else if node n' is already in OPEN and CLOSED, then it

should be attached to the back pointer which reflects the lowest g(n')
value.

Step 6: Return to Step 2.

Advantages:
o A* search algorithm is the best algorithm than other search
algorithms.
o A* search algorithm is optimal and complete.
o This algorithm can solve very complex problems.

Disadvantages:
o It does not always produce the shortest path as it mostly based
on heuristics and approximation.
o A* search algorithm has some complexity issues.
o The main drawback of A* is memory requirement as it keeps all
generated nodes in the memory, so it is not practical for various
large-scale problems.

Example:
In this example, we will traverse the given graph using the A*
algorithm. The heuristic value of all states is given in the below table
so we will calculate the f(n) of each state using the formula f(n)= g(n)
+ h(n), where g(n) is the cost to reach any node from start state.
Here we will use OPEN and CLOSED list.
Solution:

Initialization: {(S, 5)}

Iteration1: {(S--> A, 4), (S-->G, 10)}

Iteration2: {(S--> A-->C, 4), (S--> A-->B, 7), (S-->G, 10)}

Iteration3: {(S--> A-->C--->G, 6), (S--> A-->C--->D, 11), (S--> A--
>B, 7), (S-->G, 10)}

Iteration 4 will give the final result, as S--->A--->C--->G it provides

the optimal path with cost 6.

Points to remember:

o A* algorithm returns the path which occurred first, and it does

not search for all remaining paths.
o The efficiency of A* algorithm depends on the quality of
heuristic.
o A* algorithm expands all nodes which satisfy the condition
f(n)<="" li="">

Complete: A* algorithm is complete as long as:

o Branching factor is finite.

o Cost at every action is fixed.

Optimal: A* search algorithm is optimal if it follows below two

conditions:

o Admissible: the first condition requires for optimality is that

h(n) should be an admissible heuristic for A* tree search. An
admissible heuristic is optimistic in nature.
o Consistency: Second required condition is consistency for only
A* graph-search.

If the heuristic function is admissible, then A* tree search will always

find the least cost path.

Time Complexity: The time complexity of A* search algorithm

depends on heuristic function, and the number of nodes expanded is
exponential to the depth of solution d. So the time complexity is
O(b^d), where b is the branching factor.

Space Complexity: The space complexity of A* search algorithm

is O(b^d)
Hill Climbing Algorithm in Artificial
Intelligence
o Hill climbing algorithm is a local search algorithm which
continuously moves in the direction of increasing
elevation/value to find the peak of the mountain or best solution
to the problem. It terminates when it reaches a peak value where
no neighbour has a higher value.
o Hill climbing algorithm is a technique which is used for
optimizing the mathematical problems.
o One of the widely discussed examples of Hill climbing
algorithm is Traveling-salesman Problem in which we need to
minimize the distance travelled by the salesman.
o It is also called greedy local search as it only looks to its good
immediate neighbour state and not beyond that.
o A node of hill climbing algorithm has two components which
are state and value.
o Hill Climbing is mostly used when a good heuristic is available.
o In this algorithm, we don't need to maintain and handle the
search tree or graph as it only keeps a single current state.

Features of Hill Climbing:

Following are some main features of Hill Climbing Algorithm:

o Generate and Test variant: Hill Climbing is the variant of

Generate and Test method. The Generate and Test method
produce feedback which helps to decide which direction to move
in the search space.
o Greedy approach: Hill-climbing algorithm search moves in the
direction which optimizes the cost.
o No backtracking: It does not backtrack the search space, as it
does not remember the previous states.
State-space Diagram for Hill Climbing:
The state-space landscape is a graphical representation of the hill-
climbing algorithm which is showing a graph between various states
of algorithm and Objective function/Cost.

On Y-axis we have taken the function which can be an objective

function or cost function, and state-space on the x-axis.

If the function on Y-axis is cost then, the goal of search is to find the
global minimum and local minimum.

If the function of Y-axis is Objective function, then the goal of the

search is to find the global maximum and local maximum.

Different regions in the state space landscape:

Local Maximum: Local maximum is a state which is better than its
neighbour states, but there is also another state which is higher than it.

Global Maximum: Global maximum is the best possible state of state

space landscape. It has the highest value of objective function.

Current state: It is a state in a landscape diagram where an agent is

currently present.
Flat local maximum: It is a flat space in the landscape where all the
neighbor states of current states have the same value.

Shoulder: It is a plateau region which has an uphill edge.

Types of Hill Climbing Algorithm:

o Simple hill Climbing:
o Steepest-Ascent hill-climbing:
o Stochastic hill Climbing:

1. Simple Hill Climbing:

 Simple hill climbing is the simplest way to implement a hill
climbing algorithm.
 It only evaluates the neighbor node state at a time and selects
the first one which optimizes current cost and set it as a current
state.
 It only checks it's one successor state, and if it finds better than
the current state, then move else be in the same state. This
algorithm has the following features:

o Less time consuming

o Less optimal solution and the solution is not guaranteed

Algorithm for Simple Hill Climbing:

o Step 1: Evaluate the initial state, if it is goal state then return

success and Stop.
o Step 2: Loop Until a solution is found or there is no new
operator left to apply.
o Step 3: Select and apply an operator to the current state.
o Step 4: Check new state:

a. If it is goal state, then return success and quit.

b. Else if it is better than the current state then assign new
state as a current state.
 c. Else if not better than the current state, then return to
step2.
o Step 5: Exit.

2. Steepest-Ascent hill climbing:

 The steepest-Ascent algorithm is a variation of simple hill
climbing algorithm.
 This algorithm examines all the neighbouring nodes of the
current state and selects one neighbour node which is closest to
the goal state.
 This algorithm consumes more time as it searches for multiple
neighbors

Algorithm for Steepest-Ascent hill climbing:

o Step 1: Evaluate the initial state, if it is goal state then return

success and stop, else make current state as initial state.
o Step 2: Loop until a solution is found or the current state does
not change.

a. Let SUCC be a state such that any successor of the current

state will be better than it.
b. For each operator that applies to the current state:

a. Apply the new operator and generate a new state.

b. Evaluate the new state.
c. If it is goal state, then return it and quit, else compare
it to the SUCC.
d. If it is better than SUCC, then set new state as
SUCC.
e. If the SUCC is better than the current state, then set
current state to SUCC.
o Step 5: Exit.
3. Stochastic hill climbing:
 Stochastic hill climbing does not examine for all its neighbor
before moving.
 Rather, this search algorithm selects one neighbor node at
random and decides whether to choose it as a current state or
examine another state.

Problems in Hill Climbing Algorithm:

1. Local Maximum: A local maximum is a peak state in the landscape
which is better than each of its neighboring states, but there is another
state also present which is higher than the local maximum.

Solution: Backtracking technique can be a solution of the local

maximum in state space landscape. Create a list of the promising path
so that the algorithm can backtrack the search space and explore other
paths as well.

2. Plateau: A plateau is the flat area of the search space in which all
the neighbor states of the current state contains the same value,
because of this algorithm does not find any best direction to move. A
hill-climbing search might be lost in the plateau area.

Solution: The solution for the plateau is to take big steps or very little
steps while searching, to solve the problem. Randomly select a state
which is far away from the current state so it is possible that the
algorithm could find non-plateau region.

3. Ridges: A ridge is a special form of the local maximum. It has an

area which is higher than its surrounding areas, but itself has a slope,
and cannot be reached in a single move.

Solution: With the use of bidirectional search, or by moving in

different directions, we can improve this problem.
Means-Ends Analysis in Artificial
Intelligence
o We have studied the strategies which can reason either in
forward or backward, but a mixture of the two directions is
appropriate for solving a complex and large problem.
o Such a mixed strategy, make it possible that first to solve the
major part of a problem and then go back and solve the small
problems arise during combining the big parts of the problem.
Such a technique is called Means-Ends Analysis.
o Means-Ends Analysis is problem-solving techniques used in
Artificial intelligence for limiting search in AI programs.
o It is a mixture of Backward and forward search technique.
o The MEA technique was first introduced in 1961 by Allen
Newell, and Herbert A. Simon in their problem-solving
computer program, which was named as General Problem
Solver (GPS).
o The MEA analysis process centered on the evaluation of the
difference between the current state and goal state.

How means-ends analysis Works:

The means-ends analysis process can be applied recursively for a
problem. It is a strategy to control search in problem-solving.
Following are the main Steps which describes the working of MEA
technique for solving a problem.

a. First, evaluate the difference between Initial State and final

State.
b. Select the various operators which can be applied for each
difference.
c. Apply the operator at each difference, which reduces the
difference between the current state and goal state.
Operator Subgoaling
 In the MEA process, we detect the differences between the
current state and goal state.
 Once these differences occur, then we can apply an operator to
reduce the differences.
 But sometimes it is possible that an operator cannot be applied
to the current state.
 So we create the subproblem of the current state, in which
operator can be applied, such type of backward chaining in
which operators are selected, and then sub goals are set up to
establish the preconditions of the operator is called Operator
Subgoaling.

Algorithm for Means-Ends Analysis:

Let's we take Current state as CURRENT and Goal State as GOAL,
then following are the steps for the MEA algorithm.

o Step 1: Compare CURRENT to GOAL, if there are no

differences between both then return Success and Exit.
o Step 2: Else, select the most significant difference and reduce it
by doing the following steps until the success or failure occurs.

a. Select a new operator O which is applicable for the current

difference, and if there is no such operator, then signal failure.
b. Attempt to apply operator O to CURRENT. Make a
description of two states.
i) O-Start, a state in which O?s preconditions are satisfied.
ii) O-Result, the state that would result if O were applied
In O-start.
c. If
(First-Part <------ MEA (CURRENT, O-START)
 And
(LAST-Part <----- MEA (O-Result, GOAL), are
successful, then signal Success and return the result of
combining FIRST-PART, O, and LAST-PART.

The above-discussed algorithm is more suitable for a simple problem

and not adequate for solving complex problems.

Example of Mean-Ends Analysis:

Let's take an example where we know the initial state and goal state as
given below. In this problem, we need to get the goal state by finding
differences between the initial state and goal state and applying
operators.

Solution:
To solve the above problem, we will first find the differences between
initial states and goal states, and for each difference, we will generate
a new state and will apply the operators. The operators we have for
this problem are:

o Move
o Delete
o Expand

1. Evaluating the initial state: In the first step, we will evaluate the
initial state and will compare the initial and Goal state to find the
differences between both states.
2. Applying Delete operator: As we can check the first difference is
that in goal state there is no dot symbol which is present in the initial
state, so, first we will apply the Delete operator to remove this dot.

3. Applying Move Operator: After applying the Delete operator, the

new state occurs which we will again compare with goal state. After
comparing these states, there is another difference that is the square is
outside the circle, so, we will apply the Move Operator.

4. Applying Expand Operator: Now a new state is generated in the

third step, and we will compare this state with the goal state. After
comparing the states there is still one difference which is the size of
the square, so, we will apply Expand operator, and finally, it will
generate the goal state.
AO* algorithm – Artificial intelligence
Best-first search is what the AO* algorithm does.
The AO* method divides any given difficult problem into a smaller
group of problems that are then resolved using the AND-OR graph
concept.
AND OR graphs are specialized graphs that are used in problems that can
be divided into smaller problems.
The AND side of the graph represents a set of tasks that must be completed
to achieve the main goal, while the OR side of the graph represents different
methods for accomplishing the same main goal.

AND-OR Graph

In the above figure, the buying of a car may be broken down into smaller
problems or tasks that can be accomplished to achieve the main goal in the
above figure, which is an example of a simple AND-OR graph. The other
task is to either steal a car that will help us accomplish the main goal or use
your own money to purchase a car that will accomplish the main goal.
The AND symbol is used to indicate the AND part of the graphs, which
refers to the need that all subproblems containing the AND to be resolved
before the preceding node or issue may be finished.
The start state and the target state are already
known in the knowledge-based search strategy known as the AO*
algorithm, and the best path is identified by heuristics. The informed search
technique considerably reduces the algorithm’s time complexity. The AO*
algorithm is far more effective in searching AND-OR trees than the A*
algorithm.
Working of AO* algorithm:
The evaluation function in AO* looks like this:
f(n) = g(n) + h(n)
f(n) = Actual cost + Estimated cost
here,
f(n) = The actual cost of traversal.
g(n) = the cost from the initial node to the current node.
h(n) = estimated cost from the current node to the goal state.
Here, in the above example all numbers in brackets are the heuristic value
i.e h(n). Each edge is considered to have a value of 1 by default.

Step-1
Starting from node A, we first calculate the best path.
f(A-B) = g(B) + h(B) = 1+4= 5 , where 1 is the default cost value of
travelling from A to B and 4 is the estimated cost from B to Goal state.
f(A-C-D) = g(C) + h(C) + g(D) + h(D) = 1+2+1+3 = 7 , here we are
calculating the path cost as both C and D because they have the AND-Arc.
The default cost value of travelling from A-C is 1, and from A-D is 1, but the
heuristic value given for C and D are 2 and 3 respectively hence making
the cost as 7.
The minimum cost path is chosen i.e A-B.
Step-2
Using the same formula as step-1, the path is now calculated from the B
node,
f(B-E) = 1 + 6 = 7.
f(B-F) = 1 + 8 = 9
Hence, the B-E path has lesser cost. Now the heuristics have to be
updated since there is a difference between actual and heuristic value of B.
The minimum cost path is chosen and is updated as the heuristic , in our
case the value is 7. And because of change in heuristic of B there is also
change in heuristic of A which is to be calculated again.
f(A-B) = g(B) + updated((h(B)) = 1+7=8
Step-3
Comparing path of f(A-B) and f(A-C-D) it is seen that f(A-C-D) is smaller.
Hence f(A-C-D) needs to be explored.
Now the current node becomes C node and the cost of the path is
calculated,
f(C-G) = 1+2 = 3
f(C-H-I) = 1+0+1+0 = 2
f(C-H-I) is chosen as minimum cost path,also there is no change in
heuristic since it matches the actual cost. Heuristic of path of H and I are 0
and hence they are solved, but Path A-D also needs to be calculated ,
since it has an AND-arc.
f(D-J) = 1+0 = 1, hence heuristic of D needs to be updated to 1. And finally
the f(A-C-D) needs to be updated.
f(A-C-D) = g(C) + h(C) + g(D) + updated((h(D)) = 1+2+1+1 =5.
As we can see that the solved path is f(A-C-D).