AI unit 2 notes

1. Problem Solving Methods in AI

 Search Algorithms in Artificial Intelligence

Search algorithms are one of the most important areas of Artificial Intelligence. This topic will
explain all about the search algorithms in AI.

 Problem-solving agents:

In Artificial Intelligence, Search techniques are universal problem-solving methods. Rational

agents or Problem-solving agents in AI mostly used these search strategies or algorithms to
solve a specific problem and provide the best result. Problem-solving agents are the goal-based
agents and use atomic representation. In this topic, we will learn various problem-solving search
algorithms.

 Search Algorithm Terminologies:

o Search: Searchingis a step by step procedure to solve a search-problem in a given search
space. A search problem can have three main factors:
a. Search Space: Search space represents a set of possible solutions, which a system
may have.
b. Start State: It is a state from where agent begins the search.
c. Goal test: It is a function which observe the current state and returns whether the
goal state is achieved or not.
o Search tree: A tree representation of search problem is called Search tree. The root of
the search tree is the root node which is corresponding to the initial state.
o Actions: It gives the description of all the available actions to the agent.
o Transition model: A description of what each action do, can be represented as a
transition model.
o Path Cost: It is a function which assigns a numeric cost to each path.
o Solution: It is an action sequence which leads from the start node to the goal node.
o Optimal Solution: If a solution has the lowest cost among all solutions.

 Properties of Search Algorithms:

Following are the four essential properties of search algorithms to compare the efficiency of
these algorithms:
Completeness: A search algorithm is said to be complete if it guarantees to return a solution if at
least any solution exists for any random input.

Optimality: If a solution found for an algorithm is guaranteed to be the best solution (lowest
path cost) among all other solutions, then such a solution for is said to be an optimal solution.

Time Complexity: Time complexity is a measure of time for an algorithm to complete its task.

Space Complexity: It is the maximum storage space required at any point during the search, as
the complexity of the problem.

Types of search algorithms

Based on the search problems we can classify the search algorithms into uninformed (Blind
search) search and informed search (Heuristic search) algorithms.

2. Uninformed/Blind Search:

The uninformed search does not contain any domain knowledge such as closeness, the location
of the goal. It operates in a brute-force way as it only includes information about how to traverse
the tree and how to identify leaf and goal nodes. Uninformed search applies a way in which
search tree is searched without any information about the search space like initial state operators
and test for the goal, so it is also called blind search.It examines each node of the tree until it
achieves the goal node.

It can be divided into five main types:

o Breadth-first search
o Uniform cost search
o Depth-first search
o Iterative deepening depth-first search
o Bidirectional Search

3. Informed Search

Informed search algorithms use domain knowledge. In an informed search, problem information
is available which can guide the search. Informed search strategies can find a solution more
efficiently than an uninformed search strategy. Informed search is also called a Heuristic search.

A heuristic is a way which might not always be guaranteed for best solutions but guaranteed to
find a good solution in reasonable time.

Informed search can solve much complex problem which could not be solved in another way.

An example of informed search algorithms is a traveling salesman problem.

1. Greedy Search
2. A* Search

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).

Completeness: BFS is complete, which means if the shallowest goal node is at some finite
depth, then BFS will find a solution.

Optimality: BFS is optimal if path cost is a non-decreasing function of the depth of the node.

2. Depth-first Search

o Depth-first search isa 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.

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:

Completeness: DLS search algorithm is complete if the solution is above the depth-limit.

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 Itcombines 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 ifthe 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.

7. Uniform Cost Search:

UCS is different from BFS and DFS because here the costs come into play. In other words,
traversing via different edges might not have the same cost. The goal is to find a path where
the cumulative sum of costs is the least.
Cost of a node is defined as:
cost(node) = cumulative cost of all nodes from root
cost(root) = 0
Example:
Question. Which solution would UCS find to move from node S to node G if run on the graph
below?

Solution. The equivalent search tree for the above graph is as follows. The cost of each node
is the cumulative cost of reaching that node from the root. Based on the UCS strategy, the
path with the least cumulative cost is chosen. Note that due to the many options in the fringe,
the algorithm explores most of them so long as their cost is low, and discards them when a
lower-cost path is found; these discarded traversals are not shown below. The actual traversal
is shown in blue.
Path: S -> A -> B -> G
Cost: 5
Let = cost of solution.
= arcs cost.

Then effective depth

Time complexity: , Space complexity:

Advantages:
 UCS is complete only if states are finite and there should be no loop with zero weight.
 UCS is optimal only if there is no negative cost.
Disadvantages:
 Explores options in every “direction”.
 No information on goal location.

4. 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

A heuristic function calculates the cost of moving from a starting state to a goal state. This
function directs the search process in intelligent algorithms like A* search and the best first
search in artificial intelligence. The algorithm can prioritize search paths that are more likely to
lead to the goal state by using the heuristic function, which gives an estimate of how close a
particular state is to the goal state.

Informed search algorithms use two primary categories of heuristic functions: acceptable and
inadmissible. A heuristic function that never overestimates the expense of getting to the desired
state is acceptable. In other words, a valid heuristic function always offers a lower constraint on
the expense of getting to the desired state. Conversely, an unallowable heuristic function can
exaggerate the expense of getting to the objective state, producing less-than-ideal answers.

Admissibility of the Heuristic Function

Admissibility is an essential quality of a heuristic function employed in intelligent search

algorithms. The search algorithm will always locate the best solution if the heuristic function is
valid. This is so that an admissible heuristic function can lower bind the cost of achieving the
desired state. As the heuristic function provides an estimated cost, each path the algorithm
discovers must cost more than or equal to that estimate.

On the other hand, the search algorithm might only locate the best solution if the heuristic
function is valid. This is because an unallowable heuristic function may overestimate the expense
of getting to the goal state, which would force the search algorithm to consider less desirable
alternatives. However, an invalid heuristic function is helpful in practice since it can improve
search efficiency by pointing the search algorithm toward the desired state.

Pure Heuristic Search

An informed search algorithm employed in artificial intelligence which expands nodes based on
heuristic values is called a pure heuristic search algorithm. These algorithms use heuristics,
which are shortcuts or general rules of thumb that direct the search process in the direction of the
desired state. In addition, pure heuristic search algorithms use domain-specific knowledge to
increase search efficiency instead of uninformed search algorithms, which have no prior
knowledge of the problem area.

The A* algorithm is one of the most widely used pure heuristic search methods. The cost of
moving from the current state to the objective state is estimated by the A* algorithm using a
heuristic function. We will understand this algorithm and its working in depth later.

Greedy Search:

In greedy search, we expand the node closest to the goal node. The “closeness” is estimated
by a heuristic h(x).
Heuristic: A heuristic h is defined as-
h(x) = Estimate of distance of node x from the goal node.
Lower the value of h(x), closer is the node from the goal.
Strategy: Expand the node closest to the goal state, i.e. expand the node with a lower h
value.
Example:
Question. Find the path from S to G using greedy search. The heuristic values h of each node
below the name of the node.
Solution. Starting from S, we can traverse to A(h=9) or D(h=5). We choose D, as it has the
lower heuristic cost. Now from D, we can move to B(h=4) or E(h=3). We choose E with a
lower heuristic cost. Finally, from E, we go to G(h=0). This entire traversal is shown in the
search tree below, in blue.

Path: S -> D -> E -> G

Advantage: Works well with informed search problems, with fewer steps to reach a goal.
Disadvantage: Can turn into unguided DFS in the worst case.

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

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.

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)

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.

o If the heuristic function is admissible, then A* tree search will always find the least cost
path.
o 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.
o Space Complexity: The space complexity of A* search algorithm is O(b^d)
 3.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 neighbor has a higher
value.

o Hill climbing algorithm is a technique which is used for optimizing the mathematical
problems. One of the widely discussed examples of Hill climbing algorithm is Traveling-
salesman Problem in which we need to minimize the distance traveled by the salesman.

o It is also called greedy local search as it only looks to its good immediate neighbor 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.
o State-space Diagram for Hill Climbing:
o 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.
 o 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 neighbor 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 neighboring nodes of the current state and selects one neighbor 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.

4.Simulated Annealing:

A hill-climbing algorithm which never makes a move towards a lower value guaranteed to be
incomplete because it can get stuck on a local maximum. And if algorithm applies a random
walk, by moving a successor, then it may complete but not efficient. Simulated Annealing is an
algorithm which yields both efficiency and completeness.

In mechanical term Annealing is a process of hardening a metal or glass to a high temperature

then cooling gradually, so this allows the metal to reach a low-energy crystalline state. The same
process is used in simulated annealing in which the algorithm picks a random move, instead of
picking the best move. If the random move improves the state, then it follows the same path.
Otherwise, the algorithm follows the path which has a probability of less than 1 or it moves
downhill and chooses another path.

 Applications of Hill Climbing Algorithm

The versatility of the Hill Climbing Algorithm is highlighted by its wide range of applications:

 Marketing: The Hill Climbing algorithm is a game-changer for marketing managers

crafting top-notch strategies. It’s instrumental in solving the classic Traveling-Salesman
problems, optimizing sales routes, and reducing travel time. This leads to more efficient
sales operations and better resource utilization.
 Robotics: The algorithm plays a critical role in robotics, enhancing the performance and
coordination of various robotic components. This leads to more sophisticated and
efficient robotic systems performing complex tasks.
 Job Scheduling: Within computing systems, Hill Climbing is key in job scheduling,
optimizing the allocation of system resources for various tasks. Efficiently managing the
distribution of jobs across different nodes ensures optimal use of computational
resources, enhancing overall system efficiency.
 Game Theory: In AI-based gaming, the algorithm is pivotal in developing sophisticated
strategies identifying moves that maximize winning chances or scores.

 Advantages and Disadvantages of Hill Climbing

Algorithms
Advantages Disadvantages
Simplicity: The algorithm is Susceptibility to Local Optima: The algorithm
straightforward to understand and can become stuck at locally optimal solutions that
implement. aren’t the best overall.
Memory Efficiency: It’s memory-efficient, Limited Exploration: Its tendency to focus on the
maintaining only the current state’s data. immediate vicinity limits its exploration,
potentially overlooking globally optimal solutions.
Rapid Convergence: It often converges Dependence on Initial State: The quality and
swiftly to a solution, which is beneficial in effectiveness of the solution found heavily depend
scenarios where time is critical. on the starting point.
  Conclusion

The Hill Climbing Algorithm, with its simple yet effective approach, stands as an

essential tool in AI. Its adaptability across various domains highlights its significance in

AI and optimization. Despite its inherent limitations, as AI continues to evolve, the role

of this algorithm in navigating complex problems remains indispensable.

4.AO* algorithm

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.

Difference between the A* Algorithm and AO* algorithm

 A* algorithm and AO* algorithm both works on the best first search.
 They are both informed search and works on given heuristics values.
 A* always gives the optimal solution but AO* doesn’t guarantee to give the optimal
solution.
 Once AO* got a solution doesn’t explore all possible paths but A* explores all paths.
 When compared to the A* algorithm, the AO* algorithm uses less memory.
 opposite to the A* algorithm, the AO* algorithm cannot go into an endless loop.

Example:

Here in the above example below the Node which is given is the heuristic value i.e h(n). Edge
length is considered as 1.
Step 1

AO* Algorithm (Step-1)

With help of f(n) = g(n) + h(n) evaluation function,

Start from node A,

f(A⇢B) = g(B) + h(B)

=1 + 5 ……here g(n)=1 is taken by default for path cost

=6

f(A⇢C+D) = g(c) + h(c) + g(d) + h(d)

=1+2+1+4 ……here we have added C & D because they are in AND

 =8

So, by calculation A⇢B path is chosen which is the minimum path, i.e f(A⇢B)

Step 2

AO* Algorithm (Step-2)

According to the answer of step 1, explore node B

Here the value of E & F are calculated as follows,

f(B⇢E) = g(e) + h(e)

f(B⇢E) = 1 + 7

=8

f(B⇢f) = g(f) + h(f)

f(B⇢f) = 1 + 9

= 10
 So, by above calculation B⇢E path is chosen which is minimum path, i.e f(B⇢E)

because B's heuristic value is different from its actual value The heuristic is

updated and the minimum cost path is selected. The minimum value in our situation is 8.

Therefore, the heuristic for A must be updated due to the change in B's heuristic.

So we need to calculate it again.

f(A⇢B) = g(B) + updated h(B)

=1+8

=9

We have Updated all values in the above tree.

Step 3

AO* Algorithm (Step-3) -Geeksforgeeks

By comparing f(A⇢B) & f(A⇢C+D)

f(A⇢C+D) is shown to be smaller. i.e 8 < 9

Now explore f(A⇢C+D)

So, the current node is C

f(C⇢G) = g(g) + h(g)

f(C⇢G) = 1 + 3

=4

f(C⇢H+I) = g(h) + h(h) + g(i) + h(i)

f(C⇢H+I) = 1 + 0 + 1 + 0 ……here we have added H & I because they are in AND

=2

f(C⇢H+I) is selected as the path with the lowest cost and the heuristic is also left unchanged

because it matches the actual cost. Paths H & I are solved because the heuristic for those paths is
0,

but Path A⇢D needs to be calculated because it has an AND.

f(D⇢J) = g(j) + h(j)

f(D⇢J) = 1 + 0

=1

the heuristic of node D needs to be updated to 1.

f(A⇢C+D) = g(c) + h(c) + g(d) + h(d)

=1+2+1+1

=5
as we can see that path f(A⇢C+D) is get solved and this tree has become a solved tree now.

In simple words, the main flow of this algorithm is that we have to find firstly level 1st heuristic

value and then level 2nd and after that update the values with going upward means towards
the root node.

In the above tree diagram, we have updated all the values.

Real-Life Applications of AO* algorithm:

Vehicle Routing Problem:

The vehicle routing problem is determining the shortest routes for a fleet of vehicles to visit a set
of customers and return to the depot, while minimizing the total distance traveled and the total
time taken. The AO* algorithm can be used to find the optimal routes that satisfy both
objectives.

Portfolio Optimization:

Portfolio optimization is choosing a set of investments that maximize returns while minimizing
risks. The AO* algorithm can be used to find the optimal portfolio that satisfies both objectives,
such as maximizing the expected return and minimizing the standard deviation.

In both examples, the AO* algorithm can be used to find the optimal solution that balances
multiple conflicting objectives, such as minimizing distance and time in the vehicle routing
problem, or maximizing returns and minimizing risks in the portfolio optimization problem. The
algorithm starts with an initial solution and iteratively improves it by exploring alternative
solutions and keeping the best solution that satisfies both objectives.

5.Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSP) in Artificial Intelligence

Finding a solution that meets a set of constraints is the goal of constraint satisfaction problems
(CSPs), a type of AI issue. Finding values for a group of variables that fulfill a set of restrictions
or rules is the aim of constraint satisfaction problems. For tasks including resource allocation,
planning, scheduling, and decision-making, CSPs are frequently employed in AI.

There are mainly three basic components in the constraint satisfaction problem:

Variables: The things that need to be determined are variables. Variables in a CSP are the
objects that must have values assigned to them in order to satisfy a particular set of constraints.
Boolean, integer, and categorical variables are just a few examples of the various types of
variables Variables, for instance, could stand in for the many puzzle cells that need to be filled
with numbers in a sudoku puzzle.
Domains: The range of potential values that a variable can have is represented by domains.
Depending on the issue, a domain may be finite or limitless. For instance, in Sudoku, the set of
numbers from 1 to 9 can serve as the domain of a variable representing a problem cell.

Constraints: The guidelines that control how variables relate to one another are known as
constraints. Constraints in a CSP define the ranges of possible values for variables. Unary
constraints, binary constraints, and higher-order constraints are only a few examples of the
various sorts of constraints. For instance, in a sudoku problem, the restrictions might be that each
row, column, and 3×3 box can only have one instance of each number from 1 to 9.

Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSP) algorithms:

 The backtracking algorithm is a depth-first search algorithm that methodically

investigates the search space of potential solutions up until a solution is discovered that
satisfies all the restrictions. The method begins by choosing a variable and giving it a
value before repeatedly attempting to give values to the other variables. The method
returns to the prior variable and tries a different value if at any time a variable cannot be
given a value that fulfills the requirements. Once all assignments have been tried or a
solution that satisfies all constraints has been discovered, the algorithm ends.
 The forward-checking algorithm is a variation of the backtracking algorithm that
condenses the search space using a type of local consistency. For each unassigned
variable, the method keeps a list of remaining values and applies local constraints to
eliminate inconsistent values from these sets. The algorithm examines a variable’s
neighbors after it is given a value to see whether any of its remaining values become
inconsistent and removes them from the sets if they do. The algorithm goes backward if,
after forward checking, a variable has no more values.
 Algorithms for propagating constraints are a class that uses local consistency and
inference to condense the search space. These algorithms operate by propagating
restrictions between variables and removing inconsistent values from the variable
domains using the information obtained.

Real-world Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSP):

 Scheduling: A fundamental CSP problem is how to efficiently and effectively schedule

resources like personnel, equipment, and facilities. The constraints in this domain specify
the availability and capacity of each resource, whereas the variables indicate the time
slots or resources.
 Vehicle routing: Another example of a CSP problem is the issue of minimizing travel
time or distance by optimizing a fleet of vehicles’ routes. In this domain, the constraints
specify each vehicle’s capacity, delivery locations, and time windows, while the variables
indicate the routes taken by the vehicles.
 Assignment: Another typical CSP issue is how to optimally assign assignments or jobs
to humans or machines. In this field, the variables stand in for the tasks, while the
constraints specify the knowledge, capacity, and workload of each person or machine.
  Sudoku: The well-known puzzle game Sudoku can be modeled as a CSP problem, where
the variables stand in for the grid’s cells and the constraints specify the game’s rules,
such as prohibiting the repetition of the same number in a row, column, or area.
 Constraint-based image segmentation: The segmentation of an image into areas with
various qualities (such as color, texture, or shape) can be treated as a CSP issue in
computer vision, where the variables represent the regions and the constraints specify
how similar or unlike neighboring regions are to one another.

Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSP) benefits:

 conventional representation patterns

 generic successor and goal functions
 Standard heuristics (no domain-specific expertise).

6.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.
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.

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.
7.Adversarial Search

Adversarial search is a search, where we examine the problem which arises when we try to plan
ahead of the world and other agents are planning against us.

o In previous topics, we have studied the search strategies which are only associated with a
single agent that aims to find the solution which often expressed in the form of a
sequence of actions.
o But, there might be some situations where more than one agent is searching for the
solution in the same search space, and this situation usually occurs in game playing.
o The environment with more than one agent is termed as multi-agent environment, in
which each agent is an opponent of other agent and playing against each other. Each
agent needs to consider the action of other agent and effect of that action on their
performance.
o So, Searches in which two or more players with conflicting goals are trying to
explore the same search space for the solution, are called adversarial searches, often
known as Games.
o Games are modeled as a Search problem and heuristic evaluation function, and these are
the two main factors which help to model and solve games in AI.

Types of Games in AI:

Deterministic Chance Moves

Perfect information Chess, Checkers, go, Othello Backgammon, monopoly

Imperfect information Battleships, blind, tic-tac-toe Bridge, poker, scrabble, nuclear

war

o Perfect information: A game with the perfect information is that in which agents can
look into the complete board. Agents have all the information about the game, and they
can see each other moves also. Examples are Chess, Checkers, Go, etc.
o Imperfect information: If in a game agents do not have all information about the game
and not aware with what's going on, such type of games are called the game with
imperfect information, such as tic-tac-toe, Battleship, blind, Bridge, etc.
 o Deterministic games: Deterministic games are those games which follow a strict pattern
and set of rules for the games, and there is no randomness associated with them.
Examples are chess, Checkers, Go, tic-tac-toe, etc.
o Non-deterministic games: Non-deterministic are those games which have various
unpredictable events and has a factor of chance or luck. This factor of chance or luck is
introduced by either dice or cards. These are random, and each action response is not
fixed. Such games are also called as stochastic games.
Example: Backgammon, Monopoly, Poker, etc.

Zero-Sum Game

o Zero-sum games are adversarial search which involves pure competition.

o In Zero-sum game each agent's gain or loss of utility is exactly balanced by the losses or
gains of utility of another agent.
o One player of the game try to maximize one single value, while other player tries to
minimize it.
o Each move by one player in the game is called as ply.
o Chess and tic-tac-toe are examples of a Zero-sum game.

Zero-sum game: Embedded thinking

The Zero-sum game involved embedded thinking in which one agent or player is trying to figure
out:

o What to do.
o How to decide the move
o Needs to think about his opponent as well
o The opponent also thinks what to do

Each of the players is trying to find out the response of his opponent to their actions. This
requires embedded thinking or backward reasoning to solve the game problems in AI.

Formalization of the problem:

A game can be defined as a type of search in AI which can be formalized of the following
elements:

o Initial state: It specifies how the game is set up at the start.

o Player(s): It specifies which player has moved in the state space.
o Action(s): It returns the set of legal moves in state space.
o Result(s, a): It is the transition model, which specifies the result of moves in the state
space.
o Terminal-Test(s): Terminal test is true if the game is over, else it is false at any case.
The state where the game ends is called terminal states.
o Utility(s, p): A utility function gives the final numeric value for a game that ends in
terminal states s for player p. It is also called payoff function. For Chess, the outcomes
 are a win, loss, or draw and its payoff values are +1, 0, ½. And for tic-tac-toe, utility
values are +1, -1, and 0.

 Game tree:

A game tree is a tree where nodes of the tree are the game states and Edges of the tree are the
moves by players. Game tree involves initial state, actions function, and result Function.

Example: Tic-Tac-Toe game tree:

The following figure is showing part of the game-tree for tic-tac-toe game. Following are some
key points of the game:

o There are two players MAX and MIN.

o Players have an alternate turn and start with MAX.
o MAX maximizes the result of the game tree
o MIN minimizes the result.

Example Explanation:

o From the initial state, MAX has 9 possible moves as he starts first. MAX place x and
MIN place o, and both player plays alternatively until we reach a leaf node where one
player has three in a row or all squares are filled.
 o Both players will compute each node, minimax, the minimax value which is the best
achievable utility against an optimal adversary.
o Suppose both the players are well aware of the tic-tac-toe and playing the best play. Each
player is doing his best to prevent another one from winning. MIN is acting against Max
in the game.
o So in the game tree, we have a layer of Max, a layer of MIN, and each layer is called
as Ply. Max place x, then MIN puts o to prevent Max from winning, and this game
continues until the terminal node.
o In this either MIN wins, MAX wins, or it's a draw. This game-tree is the whole search
space of possibilities that MIN and MAX are playing tic-tac-toe and taking turns
alternately.

Hence adversarial Search for the minimax procedure works as follows:

o It aims to find the optimal strategy for MAX to win the game.
o It follows the approach of Depth-first search.
o In the game tree, optimal leaf node could appear at any depth of the tree.
o Propagate the minimax values up to the tree until the terminal node discovered.

In a given game tree, the optimal strategy can be determined from the minimax value of each
node, which can be written as MINIMAX(n). MAX prefer to move to a state of maximum value
and MIN prefer to move to a state of minimum value then:

7.Mini-Max Algorithm in Artificial Intelligence

o Mini-max algorithm is a recursive or backtracking algorithm which is used in decision-

making and game theory. It provides an optimal move for the player assuming that
opponent is also playing optimally.
o Mini-Max algorithm uses recursion to search through the game-tree.
o Min-Max algorithm is mostly used for game playing in AI. Such as Chess, Checkers, tic-
tac-toe, go, and various tow-players game. This Algorithm computes the minimax
decision for the current state.
o In this algorithm two players play the game, one is called MAX and other is called MIN.
o Both the players fight it as the opponent player gets the minimum benefit while they get
the maximum benefit.
o Both Players of the game are opponent of each other, where MAX will select the
maximized value and MIN will select the minimized value.
 o The minimax algorithm performs a depth-first search algorithm for the exploration of the
complete game tree.
o The minimax algorithm proceeds all the way down to the terminal node of the tree, then
backtrack the tree as the recursion.

Working of Min-Max Algorithm:

o The working of the minimax algorithm can be easily described using an example. Below
we have taken an example of game-tree which is representing the two-player game.
o In this example, there are two players one is called Maximizer and other is called
Minimizer.
o Maximizer will try to get the Maximum possible score, and Minimizer will try to get the
minimum possible score.
o This algorithm applies DFS, so in this game-tree, we have to go all the way through the
leaves to reach the terminal nodes.
o At the terminal node, the terminal values are given so we will compare those value and
backtrack the tree until the initial state occurs. Following are the main steps involved in
solving the two-player game tree:

Step-1: In the first step, the algorithm generates the entire game-tree and apply the utility
function to get the utility values for the terminal states. In the below tree diagram, let's take A is
the initial state of the tree. Suppose maximizer takes first turn which has worst-case initial value
=- infinity, and minimizer will take next turn which has worst-case initial value = +infinity.

Step 2: Now, first we find the utilities value for the Maximizer, its initial value is -∞, so we will
compare each value in terminal state with initial value of Maximizer and determines the higher
nodes values. It will find the maximum among the all.

o For node D max(-1,- -∞) => max(-1,4)= 4

o For Node E max(2, -∞) => max(2, 6)= 6
 o For Node F max(-3, -∞) => max(-3,-5) = -3
o For node G max(0, -∞) = max(0, 7) = 7

Step 3: In the next step, it's a turn for minimizer, so it will compare all nodes value with +∞, and
will find the 3rd layer node values.

o For node B= min(4,6) = 4

o For node C= min (-3, 7) = -3

Step 4: Now it's a turn for Maximizer, and it will again choose the maximum of all nodes value
and find the maximum value for the root node. In this game tree, there are only 4 layers, hence
we reach immediately to the root node, but in real games, there will be more than 4 layers.
 o For node A max(4, -3)= 4

That was the complete workflow of the minimax two player game.

Properties of Mini-Max algorithm:

o Complete- Min-Max algorithm is Complete. It will definitely find a solution (if exist), in
the finite search tree.
o Optimal- Min-Max algorithm is optimal if both opponents are playing optimally.
o Time complexity- As it performs DFS for the game-tree, so the time complexity of Min-
Max algorithm is O(bm), where b is branching factor of the game-tree, and m is the
maximum depth of the tree.
o Space Complexity- Space complexity of Mini-max algorithm is also similar to DFS
which is O(bm).

Limitation of the minimax Algorithm:

The main drawback of the minimax algorithm is that it gets really slow for complex games such
as Chess, go, etc. This type of games has a huge branching factor, and the player has lots of
choices to decide. This limitation of the minimax algorithm can be improved from alpha-beta
pruning which we have discussed in the next topic.

8.Alpha-Beta Pruning

o Alpha-beta pruning is a modified version of the minimax algorithm. It is an optimization

technique for the minimax algorithm.
o As we have seen in the minimax search algorithm that the number of game states it has to
examine are exponential in depth of the tree. Since we cannot eliminate the exponent, but
we can cut it to half. Hence there is a technique by which without checking each node of
 the game tree we can compute the correct minimax decision, and this technique is
called pruning. This involves two threshold parameter Alpha and beta for future
expansion, so it is called alpha-beta pruning. It is also called as Alpha-Beta Algorithm.
o Alpha-beta pruning can be applied at any depth of a tree, and sometimes it not only prune
the tree leaves but also entire sub-tree.

The two-parameter can be defined as:

a. Alpha: The best (highest-value) choice we have found so far at any point along the path
of Maximizer. The initial value of alpha is -∞.
b. Beta: The best (lowest-value) choice we have found so far at any point along the path of
Minimizer. The initial value of beta is +∞.
o The Alpha-beta pruning to a standard minimax algorithm returns the same move as the
standard algorithm does, but it removes all the nodes which are not really affecting the
final decision but making algorithm slow. Hence by pruning these nodes, it makes the
algorithm fast.

Condition for Alpha-beta pruning:

The main condition which required for alpha-beta pruning is:

1. α>=β

Key points about alpha-beta pruning:

o The Max player will only update the value of alpha.

o The Min player will only update the value of beta.
o While backtracking the tree, the node values will be passed to upper nodes instead of
values of alpha and beta.
o We will only pass the alpha, beta values to the child nodes.

Working of Alpha-Beta Pruning:

Let's take an example of two-player search tree to understand the working of Alpha-beta pruning

Step 1: At the first step the, Max player will start first move from node A where α= -∞ and β=
+∞, these value of alpha and beta passed down to node B where again α= -∞ and β= +∞, and
Node B passes the same value to its child D.
Step 2: At Node D, the value of α will be calculated as its turn for Max. The value of α is
compared with firstly 2 and then 3, and the max (2, 3) = 3 will be the value of α at node D and
node value will also 3.

Step 3: Now algorithm backtrack to node B, where the value of β will change as this is a turn of
Min, Now β= +∞, will compare with the available subsequent nodes value, i.e. min (∞, 3) = 3,
hence at node B now α= -∞, and β= 3.
In the next step, algorithm traverse the next successor of Node B which is node E, and the values
of α= -∞, and β= 3 will also be passed.

Step 4: At node E, Max will take its turn, and the value of alpha will change. The current value
of alpha will be compared with 5, so max (-∞, 5) = 5, hence at node E α= 5 and β= 3, where
α>=β, so the right successor of E will be pruned, and algorithm will not traverse it, and the value
at node E will be 5.

Step 5: At next step, algorithm again backtrack the tree, from node B to node A. At node A, the
value of alpha will be changed the maximum available value is 3 as max (-∞, 3)= 3, and β= +∞,
these two values now passes to right successor of A which is Node C.

At node C, α=3 and β= +∞, and the same values will be passed on to node F.

Step 6: At node F, again the value of α will be compared with left child which is 0, and
max(3,0)= 3, and then compared with right child which is 1, and max(3,1)= 3 still α remains 3,
but the node value of F will become 1.
Step 7: Node F returns the node value 1 to node C, at C α= 3 and β= +∞, here the value of beta
will be changed, it will compare with 1 so min (∞, 1) = 1. Now at C, α=3 and β= 1, and again it
satisfies the condition α>=β, so the next child of C which is G will be pruned, and the algorithm
will not compute the entire sub-tree G.
Step 8: C now returns the value of 1 to A here the best value for A is max (3, 1) = 3. Following
is the final game tree which is the showing the nodes which are computed and nodes which has
never computed. Hence the optimal value for the maximizer is 3 for this example.

Move Ordering in Alpha-Beta pruning:

The effectiveness of alpha-beta pruning is highly dependent on the order in which each node is
examined. Move order is an important aspect of alpha-beta pruning.

It can be of two types:

o Worst ordering: In some cases, alpha-beta pruning algorithm does not prune any of the
leaves of the tree, and works exactly as minimax algorithm. In this case, it also consumes
more time because of alpha-beta factors, such a move of pruning is called worst ordering.
In this case, the best move occurs on the right side of the tree. The time complexity for
such an order is O(bm).
o Ideal ordering: The ideal ordering for alpha-beta pruning occurs when lots of pruning
happens in the tree, and best moves occur at the left side of the tree. We apply DFS hence
it first search left of the tree and go deep twice as minimax algorithm in the same amount
of time. Complexity in ideal ordering is O(bm/2).
Rules to find good ordering:

Following are some rules to find good ordering in alpha-beta pruning:

o Occur the best move from the shallowest node.

o Order the nodes in the tree such that the best nodes are checked first.
o Use domain knowledge while finding the best move. Ex: for Chess, try order: captures
first, then threats, then forward moves, backward moves.
o We can book keep the states, as there is a possibility that states may repeat.