Intelligent Technologies

1 What are intelligent technologies Many practical problems, e.g., many engineering design problems, can be solved by known (routine) techniques. For many of these problems, these techniques have been incorporated into software packages, so the solution to these problems can be (largely) automated. However, there are still many other problems for which no routine techniques are known. For example, it is usually rather routine to design a new chip based on the known technologies, but when technologies change, the problems becomes non-trivial. In order to solve such hard-to-solve problems, we must use new ideas, we must use our intelligence. Any technology that helps us in solving such problems is called intelligent technology. 2 Traditional intelligent technologies: search for algorithms, especially for algorithms that solve dynamical optimization problems For each class of hard-to-solve practical problems, ideally, we would like to have a feasible algorithm that would solve all problems from this class in reasonable time. What do we mean by \solving a problem"? For example, when we design a bridge, we must create a design that satisses certain constraints: that the bridge should be able to withstand certain total weight, a certain wind-power, should be buildable within the budget constraints, etc. However, if we simply satisfy all the constraints, it is good, but not perfect. Ideally, we are not just looking for a solution, we want to nd the best possible solution { the best with respect to some optimality criterion. Therefore, most practical problems can be naturally formalized as optimization problems. Since in most practical problems, we deal with a dynamic situation, a situation that changes with time, the corresponding optimization problems involve quantities that change with time { in other words, the corresponding optimization problems are dynamic optimization problems. Techniques that help in solving such problems in hard-so-solve situations can be classiied as intelligent technologies. Such technologies are very useful in areas related to Artiicial Intelligence, e.g., in robot control, airplane control, etc. For example, an autopilot that automatically ies a plane is a seemingly intelligent device { and it is mainly based on traditional intelligent technologies. 3 Limitations of traditional intelligent technologies As we have mentioned, for some classes of hard-to-solve practical problems, traditional intelligent technologies are very successful: they lead to an algorithm that solves all the problems from this class (or at least from a large subclass of this class) in reasonable time; once we implemented …