IDA Architecture
and
Mechanisms
By Uma Ramamurthy
Workshop on the Role of Consciousness in Memory
May 1, 2004
IDA: an Intelligent Distribution Agent
• Dialogue with sailors
• Read personnel data
• Check job requisition lists
• Enforce Navy policies
• Choose options to offer members
• Negotiate with them about jobs
Modules and Mechanisms
• Perception - Copycat Architecture - Hofstadter
• Action Selection - Behavior Net - Maes
• Episodic Memory - Sparse Distributed Memory - Kanerva
• Emotions - Pandemonium Theory - Jackson
• Metacognition - Fuzzy Classifier Systems - Holland
• Learning - Copycat Architecture, Reinforcement
• Constraint Satisfaction - Linear Functional
• Language Generation - Pandemonium Theory
• Deliberation - Pandemonium Theory
• ‘Consciousness’ - Pandemonium Theory
IDA’s Architecture
Metacognition
Database
Perception
Constraint
Satisfaction
Deliberation
Negotiation
Problem
Solving
Behavior Net
Expectation
&
Automatization
‘Consciousness’
Perception
Working
Memory
Episodic
Memory
Emotions
Codelets/Processors
• Small pieces of code each performing
a simple, specialized task
• Many act as demons, watching for a chance to act
• Most subserve some high level entity, e.g.
– behavior
– slipnet node
– metacognitive action
• Some codelets work on their own, e.g.
– watching for incoming mail
– checking for time and place conflicts
• Codelets do almost all the work
• IDA is a multi-agent system
Perception via Slipnet
Norfolk
San Diego
nor
norfolk
Miami
Norfolk
NRFK
...
location
preference
acceptance
information
request
Jacksonville
Associative Memories
Sparse Distribute Memory — Boolean Space — dim = N (enough to code features)
bit vector
Focus
Working memory
Perception
Sailor
Data
Behavior Net
Job
List
Negotiation
Outgoing
Message
Deliberation
Coalitions and Consciousness
• Coalition manager
• Spotlight manager
• Broadcast
mechanism
‘Consciousness’ in Action
Associative Memory
Working memory
Focus
Job
List
Outgoing
Message
Playing
Field
Stands
Behavior Stream
Activation from drive
Send an
acknowledgement
Compose an
acknowledgment
Drive to Acknowledge
Find an email
address
Find and move
a template
From the
Sidelines
Activation from the environment,
external or internal
Behavior Net in Action
Behavior net
Working
Memory
Stands
Sidelines
Broadcast
Playing field
Behavior net templates
Deliberation
• Faced with a goal or problem
• Imagine possible plans or solutions
– Scenarios
– Routes
– Internal virtual reality—Dawkins
• Evaluate them
– Using reason
– Using emotions
• Choose amongst them
Deliberation in Action
Associative Memory
Working memory
Focus
Job
List
Playing
Field
Detach
Date
Detach
Date
Detach
Date
Leave Time
Leave
Time
Leave
Time
Stands
Voluntary vs. non-voluntary action
• William James (circa 1890) ----- Bernard Baars (1988)
• Theory of voluntary action
– Proposers - propose a course of action
– Objectors - raise objections to such a course of action
– Supporters - lend support to such a course of action
– Auctioneer - wields the gavel
Ideomotor Theory in Action
• Idea pops to mind (proposer) - no objection (objector) - do it
• Objection (objector) - don’t do it
• Objection then support (supporter) - do it
• Different proposal - no objection - do it
• Different proposal - original proposal - no objection - do it
• Last unopposed proposal is acted upon
Acknowledgements
• ‘Conscious’ Software Research Group
http://csrg.cs.memphis.edu/