Planning and Understanding: A Computational Approach to Human Reasoning

This book represents original research on the areas of Artificial Intelligence and natural language processing. In particular, the theories and programs described are unique in that they attempt to relate these two endeavors in a new way. The theory stresses the complexity of the structure of plans rather than the problem of searching for the solution in a problem space. In addition, the theory examines commonplace situations rather than esoteric ones, goal interactions as opposed to plan production, and simulation and goal detection on place of more conventional big detection and plan modification techniques.

The treatment of these topics presumes that the audience had some degree of sophistication in matters relating to Artificial Intelligence and cognitive science. However, very little specific knowledge is required. In sum, the book should be readable by any knowledgeable cognitive scientist or AI researcher, even if he has no technical expertise in natural language processing or AI planning.