ITECH WORLD AKTU

ITECH WORLD AKTU

Subject Name: Artificial Intelligence
Subject Code: BCAI501

Syllabus
1. Introduction:

a. Definition
b. Future of Artificial Intelligence
c. Characteristics of Intelligent Agents
d. Typical Intelligent Agents
e. Problem Solving Approach to Typical AI Problems

1 Introduction
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science that aims to create machines
capable of intelligent behavior. This includes learning, reasoning, problem-solving, per-
ception, and language understanding.

1.1 Definition
AI can be defined as the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, espe-
cially computer systems. These processes include learning (the acquisition of information
and rules for using the information), reasoning (using rules to reach approximate or def-
inite conclusions), and self-correction.

1.2 Future of Artificial Intelligence

The future of AI is a dynamic and rapidly evolving landscape, with numerous advance-
ments and potential applications across different fields. Below are seven key points high-
lighting the future prospects of AI:

1. Healthcare and Medicine: AI is revolutionizing healthcare through applications

in predictive diagnostics, personalized medicine, and robotic surgery. For example,
AI-powered tools can analyze medical images to detect early signs of diseases, such
as cancer, with greater accuracy and speed.

2. Autonomous Vehicles: The development of self-driving cars and drones is one of

the most prominent future applications of AI. These vehicles utilize AI algorithms
for real-time decision-making, enabling safer and more efficient transportation.

3. Natural Language Processing (NLP): AI is advancing the field of NLP, en-

hancing the capabilities of virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa. Future applica-
tions include more intuitive chatbots, real-time translation services, and improved
human-computer interactions.

1
ITECH WORLD AKTU

4. Finance and Trading: AI is transforming the finance sector by providing tools

for fraud detection, algorithmic trading, credit scoring, and personalized financial
advice. Machine learning models are used to analyze vast amounts of data to
identify market trends and optimize investment strategies.

5. Smart Cities and Urban Planning: AI will play a key role in designing smart
cities with optimized traffic management, energy-efficient buildings, and improved
public safety measures. AI-driven analytics can provide insights into urban devel-
opment and help reduce environmental impact.

6. Education and Learning: AI-powered platforms are revolutionizing education

by offering personalized learning experiences, automating administrative tasks, and
providing real-time feedback. For instance, AI can analyze student performance
data to adapt teaching methods and materials for individualized learning paths.

7. Ethics and Governance: The future of AI also involves addressing ethical con-
cerns related to privacy, bias, and decision-making transparency. Developing robust
AI governance frameworks and ethical guidelines is crucial to ensure AI technologies
are aligned with societal values and human rights.

1.3 Characteristics of Intelligent Agents

An intelligent agent is an autonomous entity that perceives its environment and takes
actions to achieve specific goals. Key characteristics include:

• Autonomy: Acts independently without direct human control.

• Reactivity: Quickly responds to changes in the environment.

• Proactiveness: Initiates actions to achieve defined objectives.

• Social Ability: Interacts and communicates with other agents or humans.

• Adaptability: Learns from experiences and adapts to new situations.

• Rationality: Chooses actions that maximize performance or utility.

• Persistence: Continues pursuing goals despite challenges or obstacles.

1.4 Typical Intelligent Agents

Intelligent agents are designed to perform tasks autonomously by perceiving their envi-
ronment and taking appropriate actions. Below are the typical types of intelligent agents:

• Simple Reflex Agents: These agents operate based on a predefined set of rules
that map a specific situation to an action. They do not consider the history of
previous states, making them effective in fully observable environments. However,
they struggle with complex or partially observable environments. Example: A
thermostat adjusting temperature based on current readings.

2
ITECH WORLD AKTU

• Model-based Reflex Agents: Unlike simple reflex agents, model-based agents

maintain an internal model of the world, which helps them handle partially ob-
servable environments. They use this internal state to keep track of aspects of
the environment that are not immediately perceptible. The model helps predict
the outcome of actions, improving decision-making. Example: A self-driving car
keeping track of nearby vehicles and predicting their movements.

• Goal-based Agents: These agents go beyond immediate actions and are designed
to achieve specific goals. They choose actions based on a set of goals they aim to
accomplish, using goal information to guide decision-making. Goal-based agents
often use search and planning algorithms to find the best path to achieve their
objectives. Example: A delivery robot navigating a warehouse to pick up and
deliver packages to specific locations.

• Utility-based Agents: Utility-based agents are an extension of goal-based agents,

designed to handle situations where multiple possible goals can be pursued. They
evaluate different possible actions based on a utility function, which assigns a nu-
merical value representing the desirability of each outcome. The agent chooses
actions that maximize the expected utility. Example: An autonomous trading sys-
tem selecting trades that maximize profit while minimizing risk.

• Learning Agents: These agents have the ability to learn from their experiences
and improve their performance over time. A learning agent has four components: a
learning element (improves the agent’s performance), a performance element (selects
external actions), a critic (provides feedback), and a problem generator (suggests
actions that will lead to new knowledge). Example: A recommendation system
learning from user behavior to improve future suggestions.

• Collaborative Agents: These agents work in a multi-agent environment where

they must cooperate or compete with other agents. They are designed to achieve
goals that require interaction and coordination with other agents. Example: Agents
in an online multiplayer game collaborating to achieve common objectives or com-
pete against each other.

• Hybrid Agents: These agents combine multiple agent architectures to leverage

the strengths of different types. For instance, an agent might use both reactive and
deliberative strategies to make decisions, balancing immediate response with long-
term planning. Example: A rescue robot that uses reflex actions to avoid obstacles
while also planning a path to the target.

1.5 Problem Solving Approach to Typical AI Problems

AI problem-solving often requires exploring a vast space of possible solutions to find the
optimal or satisfactory outcome. The following are common approaches used in AI to
tackle such problems:

• Search Algorithms: These algorithms systematically explore the possible states

or configurations of a problem to find a solution. Examples include:

3
ITECH WORLD AKTU

2 Breadth-First Search (BFS)

Definition:
Breadth-First Search (BFS) explores all nodes at the current depth level before
moving to the next, ensuring the shortest path is found in unweighted graphs.

Usage:
BFS is used when the goal is to find the shortest path or the closest solution. It is
applicable in scenarios like social network analysis, GPS navigation, and network
broadcasting.

Mechanism:
Uses a queue data structure to maintain the nodes to be explored. Nodes are visited
level by level, ensuring that nodes closer to the start node are visited first.

Properties:

– Completeness: BFS guarantees finding a solution if one exists.

– Optimality: It finds the shortest path in an unweighted graph.
– Time Complexity: O(V + E), where V is the number of vertices and E is the
number of edges.
– Space Complexity: O(V), due to storing all nodes in memory.

4
ITECH WORLD AKTU

Breadth-First Search (BFS) Process

– Breadth-First Search (BFS) starts at the root node (like node A in the
image) and explores all its direct neighbors first before moving to nodes at the
next level.
∗ Start at the Root: Begin at the root node (A).
∗ Expand Neighbors: Visit all direct neighbors of A, such as nodes B and C.
∗ Move to Next Level: Once all neighbors of the current level are visited,
move to the next level. For example, after visiting B and C, move to D,
E, F, and G in order.
– The process continues until all nodes have been visited or until the desired
node is found. For example, after reaching node G, the search stops because
all nodes have been explored.

5
ITECH WORLD AKTU

3 Depth-First Search (DFS)

Definition:
Depth-First Search (DFS) explores as far as possible along a branch before back-
tracking. It is used for scenarios where solutions are deep in the search tree.

Usage:
DFS is ideal for situations such as solving puzzles, analyzing game trees, and topo-
logical sorting in directed acyclic graphs (DAGs).

Mechanism:
Uses a stack data structure (either explicitly or via recursion) to explore nodes as
deep as possible along each branch before backtracking.

Properties:

– Completeness: Not guaranteed, as DFS may get stuck in loops if the graph
contains cycles.
– Optimality: Does not guarantee the shortest path.
– Time Complexity: O(V + E), where V is the number of vertices and E is the
number of edges.
– Space Complexity: O(V) in case of recursion.

First Search (DFS) Process

– Depth-First Search (DFS) explores a graph by selecting a path and travers-

ing it as deeply as possible before backtracking.
∗ Start at the Root: Begin at the root node (A).

6
ITECH WORLD AKTU

∗ Expand One Branch: Explore a single branch as deeply as possible. For

example, start at A, explore its successor B, and continue down to D,
reaching a dead end.
∗ Backtrack: After reaching a dead end, backtrack to the most recent unex-
plored node. For example, backtrack from D to B, then explore remaining
successors of B, such as E.
∗ Continue Exploration: Repeat the process of exploring as deeply as pos-
sible, then backtracking as needed. After exploring all nodes of B, move
to the right side node C, then F, and finally G.
– The process continues until all nodes have been visited or until the search
terminates. In this case, after exploring node G, all nodes have been visited,
and the search terminates.

7
ITECH WORLD AKTU

4 A* Search

Definition:
A* Search is a combination of uniform-cost search and heuristics to prioritize nodes,
finding the least-cost path efficiently by considering both the cost to reach a node
and an estimated cost to the goal.

Usage:
Commonly used in pathfinding and graph traversal problems, such as video games
and AI for robotics.

Mechanism:
Uses a priority queue to explore nodes. The priority is determined by a cost func-
tion f (n) = g(n) + h(n), where g(n) is the cost to reach node n from the start, and
h(n) is the heuristic estimate of the cost from n to the goal.

Properties:

– Completeness: Guarantees finding a solution if one exists.

– Optimality: Finds the least-cost path if the heuristic is admissible (never over-
estimates).
– Time Complexity: Depends on the heuristic; worst-case is exponential.
– Space Complexity: Can be high due to storing all nodes in memory.

Heuristics

Heuristics are rules of thumb or educated guesses that help guide the search process
toward a solution more quickly. They are used in algorithms to make decisions based
on approximate information. A heuristic provides an estimate of the cost to reach
the goal from a given state, which allows the search to prioritize certain paths.

Types of Heuristics

– Admissible Heuristics:
An admissible heuristic is one that never overestimates the cost to reach the
goal. This means the heuristic provides a lower bound on the actual cost,
ensuring that search algorithms like A* find the optimal solution.
∗ Example: In a pathfinding problem, the straight-line distance (Euclidean
distance) between the current position and the goal is an admissible heuris-
tic since it never overestimates the true distance.
– Inadmissible Heuristics:
An inadmissible heuristic may overestimate the actual cost to reach the goal.
While this can speed up the search process, it does not guarantee that the
solution found will be optimal.

8
ITECH WORLD AKTU

∗ Example: In the same pathfinding problem, if the heuristic assumes

obstacles that don’t exist, it could overestimate the distance, leading to a
potentially suboptimal path.

Optimization

Optimization is the process of finding the best solution from a set of possibilities.
It involves maximizing or minimizing an objective function while satisfying certain
constraints.

Examples:

– Genetic Algorithms:
∗ Mimic natural selection to evolve better solutions over multiple genera-
tions.
∗ Use Case: Ideal for problems with large or complex search spaces.
– Simulated Annealing:
∗ A probabilistic technique that occasionally accepts worse solutions to es-
cape local optima and gradually focuses on better solutions.
∗ Use Case: Useful for optimization problems with many local optima.

Example: To solve a maze, the A* search algorithm can be applied, which eval-
uates each possible move based on both the actual cost to reach a point and an
estimated cost from that point to the goal, ensuring an efficient path to the exit.