CS3491 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND MACHINE LEARNING

UNIT I PROBLEM SOLVING

Introduction to AI - AI Applications - Problem solving agents – search algorithms –
uninformed search strategies – Heuristic search strategies – Local search and
optimization problems – adversarial search – constraint satisfaction problems (CSP)

INTRODUCTION TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Artificial Intelligence is composed of two words Artificial and Intelligence,

where Artificial defines "man-made," and intelligence defines "thinking power",
hence AI means "a man-made thinking power."

So, we can define AI as:

"It is a branch of computer science by which we can create intelligent

machines which can behave like a human, think like humans, and able to make
decisions."
Artificial Intelligence exists when a machine can have human based skills
such as learning, reasoning, and solving problems
Why Artificial Intelligence?

Before Learning about Artificial Intelligence, we should know that what is the
importance of AI and why should we learn it. Following are some main reasons to
learn about AI:

o With the help of AI, you can create such software or devices which can solve
real-world problems very easily and with accuracy such as health issues,
marketing, traffic issues, etc.
o With the help of AI, you can create your personal virtual Assistant, such as
Cortana, Google Assistant, Siri, etc.
o With the help of AI, you can build such Robots which can work in an
environment where survival of humans can be at risk.
o AI opens a path for other new technologies, new devices, and new
Opportunities.

Goals of Artificial Intelligence

Following are the main goals of Artificial Intelligence:

1. Replicate human intelligence

2. Solve Knowledge-intensive tasks
3. An intelligent connection of perception and action
4. Building a machine which can perform tasks that requires human intelligence
such as:
o Proving a theorem
o Playing chess
o Plan some surgical operation
 o Driving a car in traffic
5. Creating some system which can exhibit intelligent behavior, learn new things
by itself, demonstrate, explain, and can advise to its user.

What Comprises to Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence is not just a part of computer science even it's so vast
and requires lots of other factors which can contribute to it. To create the AI first we
should know that how intelligence is composed, so the Intelligence is an intangible
part of our brain which is a combination of Reasoning, learning, problem-solving
perception, language understanding, etc.

To achieve the above factors for a machine or software Artificial Intelligence

requires the following discipline:

o Mathematics
o Biology
o Psychology
o Sociology
o Computer Science
o Neurons Study
o Statistics

Advantages of Artificial Intelligence

Following are some main advantages of Artificial Intelligence:

o High Accuracy with less errors: AI machines or systems are prone to less
errors and high accuracy as it takes decisions as per pre-experience or
information.
o High-Speed: AI systems can be of very high-speed and fast-decision making,
because of that AI systems can beat a chess champion in the Chess game.
o High reliability: AI machines are highly reliable and can perform the same
action multiple times with high accuracy.
o Useful for risky areas: AI machines can be helpful in situations such as
defusing a bomb, exploring the ocean floor, where to employ a human can be
risky.
 o Digital Assistant: AI can be very useful to provide digital assistant to the
users such as AI technology is currently used by various E-commerce websites
to show the products as per customer requirement.
o Useful as a public utility: AI can be very useful for public utilities such as a
self-driving car which can make our journey safer and hassle-free, facial
recognition for security purpose, Natural language processing to communicate
with the human in human-language, etc.

Disadvantages of Artificial Intelligence

Every technology has some disadvantages, and thesame goes for Artificial
intelligence. Being so advantageous technology still, it has some disadvantages which
we need to keep in our mind while creating an AI system.

Following are the disadvantages of AI:

o High Cost: The hardware and software requirement of AI is very costly as it

requires lots of maintenance to meet current world requirements.
o Can't think out of the box: Even we are making smarter machines with AI,
but still they cannot work out of the box, as the robot will only do that work
for which they are trained, or programmed.
o No feelings and emotions: AI machines can be an outstanding performer, but
still it does not have the feeling so it cannot make any kind of emotional
attachment with human, and may sometime be harmful for users if the proper
care is not taken.
o Increase dependency on machines: With the increment of technology, people
are getting more dependent on devices and hence they are losing their mental
capabilities.
o No Original Creativity: As humans are so creative and can imagine some
new ideas but still AI machines cannot beat this power of human intelligence
and cannot be creative and imaginative.
AI APPLICATION OR APPLICATION OF AI

Artificial Intelligence has various applications in today's society. It is

becoming essential for today's time because it can solve complex problems with an
efficient way in multiple industries, such as Healthcare, entertainment, finance,
education, etc. AI is making our daily life more comfortable and fast.

Following are some sectors which have the application of Artificial Intelligence:

1. AI in Astronomy
o Artificial Intelligence can be very useful to solve complex universe problems.
AI technology can be helpful for understanding the universe such as how it
works, origin, etc.

2. AI in Healthcare
o In the last, five to ten years, AI becoming more advantageous for the
healthcare industry and going to have a significant impact on this industry.
o Healthcare Industries are applying AI to make a better and faster diagnosis
than humans. AI can help doctors with diagnoses and can inform when
patients are worsening so that medical help can reach to the patient before
hospitalization.

3. AI in Gaming
o AI can be used for gaming purpose. The AI machines can play strategic games
like chess, where the machine needs to think of a large number of possible
places.

4. AI in Finance
o AI and finance industries are the best matches for each other. The finance
industry is implementing automation, chatbot, adaptive intelligence, algorithm
trading, and machine learning into financial processes.
5. AI in Data Security
o The security of data is crucial for every company and cyber-attacks are
growing very rapidly in the digital world. AI can be used to make your data
more safe and secure. Some examples such as AEG bot, AI2 Platform,are used
to determine software bug and cyber-attacks in a better way.

6. AI in Social Media
o Social Media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat contain billions of
user profiles, which need to be stored and managed in a very efficient way. AI
can organize and manage massive amounts of data. AI can analyze lots of data
to identify the latest trends, hashtag, and requirement of different users.

7. AI in Travel & Transport

o AI is becoming highly demanding for travel industries. AI is capable of doing
various travel related works such as from making travel arrangement to
suggesting the hotels, flights, and best routes to the customers. Travel
industries are using AI-powered chatbots which can make human-like
interaction with customers for better and fast response.

8. AI in Automotive Industry
o Some Automotive industries are using AI to provide virtual assistant to their
user for better performance. Such as Tesla has introduced TeslaBot, an
intelligent virtual assistant.
o Various Industries are currently working for developing self-driven cars which
can make your journey more safe and secure.

9. AI in Robotics:
o Artificial Intelligence has a remarkable role in Robotics. Usually, general
robots are programmed such that they can perform some repetitive task, but
with the help of AI, we can create intelligent robots which can perform tasks
with their own experiences without pre-programmed.
o Humanoid Robots are best examples for AI in robotics, recently the intelligent
Humanoid robot named as Erica and Sophia has been developed which can
talk and behave like humans.

10. AI in Entertainment
o We are currently using some AI based applications in our daily life with some
entertainment services such as Netflix or Amazon. With the help of ML/AI
algorithms, these services show the recommendations for programs or shows.

11. AI in Agriculture
o Agriculture is an area which requires various resources, labor, money, and
time for best result. Now a day's agriculture is becoming digital, and AI is
emerging in this field. Agriculture is applying AI as agriculture robotics, solid
and crop monitoring, predictive analysis. AI in agriculture can be very helpful
for farmers.
12. AI in E-commerce
o AI is providing a competitive edge to the e-commerce industry, and it is
becoming more demanding in the e-commerce business. AI is helping
shoppers to discover associated products with recommended size, color, or
even brand.

13. AI in education:
o AI can automate grading so that the tutor can have more time to teach. AI
chatbot can communicate with students as a teaching assistant.
o AI in the future can be work as a personal virtual tutor for students, which will
be accessible easily at any time and any place.
AGENTS IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (OR) INTELLIGENT AGENT

An AI system can be defined as the study of the rational agent and its
environment. The agents sense the environment through sensors and act on their
environment through actuators. An AI agent can have mental properties such as
knowledge, belief, intention, etc.

What is an Agent?

An agent can be anything that perceive its environment through sensors and
act upon that environment through actuators. An Agent runs in the cycle
of perceiving, thinking, and acting. An agent can be:

o Human-Agent: A human agent has eyes, ears, and other organs which work
for sensors and hand, legs, vocal tract work for actuators.
o Robotic Agent: A robotic agent can have cameras, infrared range finder, NLP
for sensors and various motors for actuators.
o Software Agent: Software agent can have keystrokes, file contents as sensory
input and act on those inputs and display output on the screen.

Hence the world around us is full of agents such as thermostat, cellphone, camera,
and even we are also agents.

Before moving forward, we should first know about sensors, effectors, and actuators.

Sensor: Sensor is a device which detects the change in the environment and sends the
information to other electronic devices. An agent observes its environment through
sensors.

Actuators: Actuators are the component of machines that converts energy into
motion. The actuators are only responsible for moving and controlling a system. An
actuator can be an electric motor, gears, rails, etc.

Effectors: Effectors are the devices which affect the environment. Effectors can be
legs, wheels, arms, fingers, wings, fins, and display screen.

Intelligent Agents:

An intelligent agent is an autonomous entity which act upon an environment using

sensors and actuators for achieving goals. An intelligent agent may learn from the
environment to achieve their goals. A thermostat is an example of an intelligent agent.
Following are the main four rules for an AI agent:

o Rule 1: An AI agent must have the ability to perceive the environment.

o Rule 2: The observation must be used to make decisions.
o Rule 3: Decision should result in an action.
o Rule 4: The action taken by an AI agent must be a rational action.

PEAS Representation

PEAS is a type of model on which an AI agent works upon. When we define an AI

agent or rational agent, then we can group its properties under PEAS representation
model. It is made up of four words:

o P: Performance measure
o E: Environment
o A: Actuators
o S: Sensors

Here performance measure is the objective for the success of an agent's behavior.

PEAS for self-driving cars:

Let's suppose a self-driving car then PEAS representation will be:

Performance: Safety, time, legal drive, comfort

Environment: Roads, other vehicles, road signs, pedestrian

Actuators: Steering, accelerator, brake, signal, horn

Sensors: Camera, GPS, speedometer, odometer, accelerometer, sonar.

PROBLEM SOLVING AGENTS

Goal formulation
Goal formulation, based on the current situation and the agent’s performance measure,
is the first step in problem solving.

Search
The process of looking for a sequence of actions that reaches the goal is called search.
A search algorithm takes a problem as input and returns a solution in the form of an
action sequence. Once a solution is found, the actions it recommends can be carried
out. This is called the execution phase.

Well-defined problems and solutions

A problem can be defined formally by five components:
 INITIAL STATE :The initial state that the agent starts in.
 A description of the possible actions available to the agent. Given a particular
state s, returns the set of actions that can be executed in s. We say that each of
these actions is applicable in s.
 A description of what each action does; the formal name for this is the
transition TRANSITION MODEL model, specified by a function RESULT(s,
a) that returns the state that results from SUCCESSOR doing action a in state s.
We also use the term successor to refer to any state reachable from a given
state by a single action
 The goal test, which determines whether a given state is a goal state.
Sometimes there is an explicit set of possible goal states, and the test simply
checks whether the given state is one of them.
 A path cost function that assigns a numeric cost to each path. The problem-
solving agent chooses a cost function that reflects its own performance
measure.

Example Problems
The problem-solving approach has been applied to a vast array of task environments.
We list some of the best known here, distinguishing between toy and real-world
problems.
The first example we examine is the vacuum world

This can be formulated as a problem as follows:

• States: The state is determined by both the agent location and the dirt locations. The
agent is in one of two locations, each of which might or might not contain dirt. Thus,
there are 2×22 = 8 possible world states. A larger environment with n locations has
nx2n states.
• Initial state: Any state can be designated as the initial state.
• Actions: In this simple environment, each state has just three actions: Left, Right,
and Suck. Larger environments might also include Up and Down.
• Transition model: The actions have their expected effects, except that moving Left
in the leftmost square, moving Right in the rightmost square, and Sucking in a clean
square have no effect.
• Goal test: This checks whether all the squares are clean.
• Path cost: Each step costs 1, so the path cost is the number of steps in the path.
The 8-puzzle
It consists of a 3×3 board with eight numbered tiles and a blank space. A tile adjacent
to the blank space can slide into the space. The object is to reach a specified goal state.

States: A state description specifies the location of each of the eight tiles and the
blank
in one of the nine squares.
• Initial state: Any state can be designated as the initial state. Note that any given
goal
can be reached from exactly half of the possible initial states.
• Actions: The simplest formulation defines the actions as movements of the blank
space
Left, Right, Up, or Down. Different subsets of these are possible depending on where
the blank is.
• Transition model: Given a state and action, this returns the resulting state; for
example,
if we apply Left to the start state the resulting state has the 5 and the blank
switched.
• Goal test: This checks whether the state matches the goal configuration.
• Path cost: Each step costs 1, so the path cost is the number of steps in the path.

The 8-puzzle belongs to the family of sliding-block puzzles, which are often used as
test problems for new search algorithms in AI. This family is known to be NP-
complete.
8-queens problem

The goal of the 8-queens problem is to place eight queens on a chessboard such that
no queen attacks any other. (A queen attacks any piece in the same row, column or
diagonal.)

States: Any arrangement of 0 to 8 queens on the board is a state.

• Initial state: No queens on the board.
• Actions: Add a queen to any empty square.
• Transition model: Returns the board with a queen added to the specified square.
• Goal test: 8 queens are on the board, none attacked.
• States: All possible arrangements of n queens (0 ≤ n ≤ 8), one per column in the
leftmost n columns, with no queen attacking another.
• Actions: Add a queen to any square in the leftmost empty column such that it is not
attacked by any other queen.

Real-world problems
Route-finding algorithms are used in a variety of applications.

Consider the airline travel problems that must be solved by a travel-planning Web site:
• States: Each state obviously includes a location (e.g., an airport) and the current
time. Furthermore, because the cost of an action (a flight segment) may depend on
previous segments, their fare bases, and their status as domestic or international, the
state must record extra information about these “historical” aspects.
• Initial state: This is specified by the user’s query.
• Actions: Take any flight from the current location, in any seat class, leaving after the
current time, leaving enough time for within-airport transfer if needed.
• Transition model: The state resulting from taking a flight will have the flight’s
destination as the current location and the flight’s arrival time as the current time.
• Goal test: Are we at the final destination specified by the user?
• Path cost: This depends on monetary cost, waiting time, flight time, customs and
immigration
procedures, seat quality, time of day, type of airplane, frequent-flyer mileage awards,
and so on.
The traveling salesperson problem (TSP) is a touring problem in which each city
must be visited exactly once. The aim is to find the shortest tour. The problem is
known to be NP-hard, but an enormous amount of effort has been expended to
improve the capabilities of TSP algorithms.
SEARCH ALGORITHMS

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

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.
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.
Actions: It gives the description of all the available actions to the agent.
Transition model: A description of what each action do, can be represented as
a transition model.
Path Cost: It is a function which assigns a numeric cost to each path.
Solution: It is an action sequence which leads from the start node to the goal
node.
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 search strategies (Blind search) and Heuristic search strategies
(Informed search) algorithms.

Uninformed search strategies / 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 Dijkstra’s algorithm or Uniform cost search
o Depth-first search and problem of memory
o Depth- limited and Iterative deepening search
o Bidirectional Search

Heuristic search strategy / 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 Best First Search

2. A* Search
3. AO* search
Uninformed search strategies / Blind 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.

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:

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.

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.

2. Dijkstra’s algorithm or Uniform cost search

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.

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.

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.

3. Depth-first search and problem of memory

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.

Note: Backtracking is an algorithm technique for finding all possible solutions using
recursion.
Example:

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.

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.
4. 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.

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
sub graphs 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.

Heuristic search strategy / Informed Search

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.
1. Greedy Best First 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.

f(n)= h(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.

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]

Iteration2: 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.

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.
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.

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.

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)

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.

3. AO* Search Algorithm & Its Properties

AO* search Algorithm is based on problem decomposition (Breakdown
problem into small pieces) When a problem can be divided or decomposed into a set
of sub problems, where each sub problem can be solved separately and for each
subproblem , sub solution is evaluated and a combination of these sub solutions will
be a whole solution, AND OR graphs or AND OR trees are used for representing this
solution.

Problem Reduction In Artificial Intelligence

 AO* is informed search algorithm ,work based on heuristic. We already know

about the divide and conquer strategy, a solution to a problem can be obtained by
decomposing it into smaller sub-problems.
 Each of this sub-problem can then be solved to get its sub solution. These sub
solutions can then recombined to get a solution as a whole. That is called is
Problem Reduction. AND-OR graphs or AND – OR trees are used for
representing the solution.
 This method generates arc which is called as AND-OR arcs. One AND arc may
point to any number of successor nodes, all of which must be solved in order for
an arc to point to a solution. AND-OR graph is used to represent various kind of
complex problem solutions.
 AO* search algo. is based on AND-OR graph so ,it is called AO* search algo.

AO * Search Algorithm In Artificial Intelligence

 Just as in an OR graph, several arcs may emerge from a single node, indicating a
variety of ways in which the original problem might be solved.
 This is why the structure is called not simply an OR-graph but rather an AND-OR
graph (which also happens to be an AND-OR tree)

Example

AO * Search Algorithm In Artificial Intelligence

 An algorithm to find a solution in an AND – OR graph must handle AND area

appropriately.
 A* algorithm can not search AND – OR graphs efficiently.
 This can be understand from the given figure
 In figure (a) the top node A has been expanded producing two area one leading to
B and leading to C-D . the numbers at each node represent the value of f ‘ at that
node (cost of getting to the goal state from current state). For simplicity, it is
assumed that every operation(i.e. applying a rule) has unit cost, i.e., each are with
single successor will have a cost of 1 and each of its components.
 With the available information till now , it appears that C is the most promising
node to expand since its f ‘ = 3 , the lowest but going through B would be better
since to use C we must also use D’ and the cost would be 9(3+4+1+1). Through B
it would be 6(5+1).
 Thus the choice of the next node to expand depends not only on a value but also
on whether that node is part of the current best path form the initial mode. Figure
(b) makes this clearer. In figure the node G appears to be the most promising
node, with the least f ‘ value. But G is not on the current beat path, since to use G
we must use GH with a cost of 9 and again this demands that arcs be used (with a
cost of 27).

The path from A through B, E-F is better with a total cost of (17+1=18). Thus we
can see that to search an AND-OR graph, the following three things must be
done.

 Traverse the graph starting at the initial node and following the current best path,
and accumulate the set of nodes that are on the path and have not yet been
expanded.
 Pick one of these best unexpanded nodes and expand it. Add its successors to the
graph and compute f ‘ (cost of the remaining distance) for each of them.
 Change the f ‘ estimate of the newly expanded node to reflect the new
information produced by its successors. Propagate this change backward through
the graph. Decide which of the current best path.

The propagation of revised cost estimation backward is in the tree is not

necessary in A* algorithm. This is because in AO* algorithm expanded nodes are
re-examined so that the current best path can be selected.

Advantages of AO*:

 It is Complete
 Will not go in infinite loop
 Less Memory Required

Disadvantages of AO*:
It is not optimal as it does not explore all the path once it find a solution.
LOCAL SEARCH AND OPTIMIZATION PROBLEMS

Local search
Local search algorithms operate by searching from a start state to neighboring
states,
without keeping track of the paths, nor the set of states that have been reached. That
means they are not systematic—they might never explore a portion of the search
space where a solution actually resides.
However, they have two key advantages:
(1) they use very little memory; and
(2) they can often find reasonable solutions in large or infinite state spaces for which
systematic algorithms are unsuitable.

Optimization problem
Local search algorithms can also solve optimization problems, in which the
aim is to find the best state according to an objective function.

State-space landscape
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.

To understand local search, consider the states of a problem laid out in a state-
space Landscape. Each point (state) in the landscape has an “elevation,” defined by
the value of the objective function. If elevation corresponds to an objective function,
then the aim is to find the highest peak—a global maximum—and we call the
process hill climbing. If elevation corresponds to cost, then the aim is to find the
lowest valley—a global minimum—and we call it gradient descent.

1. Hill-climbing search

It keeps track of one current state and on each iteration moves to the
neighboring state with highest value—that is, it heads in the direction that provides
the steepest ascent. It terminates when it reaches a “peak” where no neighbor has a
higher value.
Hill climbing is sometimes called greedy local search because it grabs a good
neighbor state without thinking ahead about where to go next.

LOCAL MAXIMA: A local maximum is a peak that is higher than each of its
neighboring states but lower than the global maximum. Hill-climbing algorithms that
reach the vicinity of a local maximum will be drawn upward toward the peak but will
then be stuck with nowhere else to go.

PLATEAUS: A plateau is a flat area of the state-space landscape. It can be a flat local
maximum, from which no uphill exit exists, or a shoulder

2. Simulated annealing

A hill-climbing algorithm that never makes “downhill” moves toward states with
lower value (or higher cost) is always vulnerable to getting stuck in a local maximum.
In contrast, a purely random walk that moves to a successor state without concern for
the value will eventually stumble upon the global maximum, but will be extremely
inefficient. Therefore, it seems reasonable to try to combine hill climbing with a
random walk in a way that yields both efficiency and completeness.
The overall structure of the simulated-annealing algorithm is similar to hill climbing.
Instead of picking the best move, however, it picks a random move. If the move
improves the situation, it is always accepted. Otherwise, the algorithm accepts the
move with some probability less than 1.

3. Local beam search

The local beam search algorithm keeps track of states rather than just one. It begins
with randomly generated states. At each step, all the successors of all states are
generated. If any one is a goal, the algorithm halts. Otherwise, it selects the best
successors from the complete list and repeats.
 A heuristic search algorithm that examines a graph by extending the most
promising node in a limited set is known as beam search.
 The number of nodes in n represents beam width.
 This algorithm only keep lowest number of nodes on open list.

Start State: C
Goal State: Z and L
n=2 (beam count)

Step 1: OPEN= {C}

Step 2: OPEN= {T, O} (T has no successor, remove T)

Step 3: OPEN= {I,N} (N has no successor, remove N)

Step 4: OPEN= {Z}

Step 5: OPEN= { }

The open set becomes empty by finding the goal node. C->O->I->Z
4. Evolutionary algorithm or Genetic algorithm
Genetic algorithm (GAs) are a class of search algorithms designed on the
natural evolution process. Genetic Algorithms are based on the principles of survival
of the fittest. The genetic algorithm then manipulates the most promising
chromosomes searching for improved solutions

Components of Genetic Algorithm

 Gene: This is an element in a chromosome.

 Allele: This is the value given to a gene in a specific chromosome.
 Chromosome/Individual: A chromosome is a collection of genes. For
example, a chromosome can be represented as a binary string where each bit is
a gene.

 Population: Since an individual is represented as a chromosome, a population

is a collection of such chromosomes.

Fitness Function

In every iteration, the individuals are evaluated based on their fitness scores
which are computed by the fitness function. Individuals who achieve a better fitness
score represent better solutions and are more likely to be chosen to crossover and
passed on to the next generation.For example, if genetic algorithms are used for
feature selection, then the accuracy of the model with those selected features would be
the fitness function if it is a classification problem.

Selection
 After calculating the fitness of every individual in the population, a selection
process is used to determine which of the individuals in the population will get to
reproduce and create the offspring that will form the next generation.
Types of selection methods available,

 Roulette wheel selection

 Tournament selection
 Rank-based selection

Crossover

Generally, two individuals are chosen from the current generation and their
genes are interchanged between two individuals to create a new individual
representing the offspring. This process is also called mating or crossover.

Types of crossover methods available,

 One point crossover

 Two-point crossover
 Uniform crossover

Mutation

The mutation is a random change in a chromosome to introduce new patterns

to a chromosome. For example, flipping a bit in a binary string.

Types of mutation methods available,

 Flip bit mutation

 Gaussian mutation
 Swap mutation
General workflow of a simple genetic algorithm

Five phases are considered in a genetic algorithm.

1. Initial population
2. Fitness function
3. Selection
4. Crossover
5. Mutation
Advantages of Genetic Algorithms

 Parallelism

 Global optimization

 A larger set of solution space

 Requires less information

 Provides multiple optimal solutions

 Probabilistic in nature

 Genetic representations using chromosomes

Disadvantages of Genetic Algorithms

 The need for special definitions

 Hyper-parameter tuning
  Computational complexity

Use-cases of Genetic Algorithms in Machine Learning

 Feature Selection

 Model Hyper-parameter Tuning

 Machine Learning Pipeline Optimization

TPOT(Tree-Based Pipeline Optimization) is an Auto-ML framework that utilizes

genetic algorithms to optimize machine learning pipelines using the Genetic

Algorithm framework called DEAP (Distributed Evolutionary Algorithms in Python).

ADVERSARIAL SEARCH

Adversarial search is basically a kind of search in which one can trace the
movement of an enemy or opponent.
 GAME PLAYING
 ALPHA-BETA PRUNING
GAME PLAYING

Optimal Decisions in Games

Optimal Strategies
The minimax algorithm
Optimal decisions in multiplayer games
A game can be formally defined as a kind of search problem with the following
elements:
• S0: The initial state, which specifies how the game is set up at the start.
• PLAYER(s): Defines which player has the move in a state.
• ACTIONS(s): Returns the set of legal moves in a state.
• RESULT(s, a): The transition model, which defines the result of a move.
• TERMINAL-TEST(s): A terminal test, which is true when the game is over and
false
otherwise. States where the game has ended are called terminal states.
• U T I L I T Y (s, p): A utility function (also called an objective function or payoff
function),
defines the final numeric value for a game that ends in terminal state s for a player p.
In chess,
the outcome is a win, loss, or draw, with values +1, 0, or 1/2 .
The initial state, ACTIONS function, and RESULT function define the game tree for
the
game—a tree where the nodes are game states and the edges are moves.

1.Optimal Strategies
Games require rules, legal moves and the conditions of winning or losing the
game.
Given a game tree, the optimal strategy can be determined from the minimax
value of each node, which we write as MINIMAX(n).

Apply these definitions to the game tree in Figure 5.2. The terminal nodes on
the bottom level get their utility values from the game’s UTILITY function.
2.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

3.Optimal decisions in multiplayer games

Games allow more than two players
Single minimax values become vectors
Consider the node marked X in the game tree shown in Figure 5.4.

Player C has two choices lead to terminal states with utility vectors ⟨ vA =1,vB
=2,vC =6⟩ and
⟨ vA =4,vB =2,vC =3⟩ . Since 6 is bigger than 3, C should choose the first move.
Multiplayer games usually involve alliances, among the players.
Alliances are made and broken as the game proceeds.

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 xamine 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.
o 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 +∞.
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).
CONSTRAINT SATISFACTION PROBLEMS (CSP)

A problem is solved when each variable has a value that satisfies all the constraints on
the variable. A problem described this way is called a constraint satisfaction
problem, or CSP.

Defining Constraint Satisfaction Problems

A constraint satisfaction problem consists of three components, and :

CSPs deal with assignments of values to variables,

 An assignment that does not violate any constraints is called a consistent or legal
assignment. A complete assignment is one in which every variable is assigned a
value, and a solution to a CSP is a consistent, complete assignment.
 A partial assignment is one that leaves some variables unassigned, and a partial
solution is a partial assignment that is consistent.

Example problem: Map coloring

Suppose that, having tired of Romania, we are looking at a map of Australia
showing each of its states and territories . We are given the task of coloring each
region either red, green, or blue in such a way that no two neighboring regions have
the same color.
To formulate this as a CSP, we define the variables to be the regions:

X = {WA,NT,Q,NSW,V ,SA,T}.
It can be helpful to visualize a CSP as a constraint graph. The nodes of the graph
correspond to variables of the problem, and an edge connects any two variables that
participate in a constraint.