IDA’s Computational Implementation

Lee McCauley

Overview

Problem Review IDA Walkthrough

– Action instigation– Perception

Ideas Information categories Databases

– Constraint Satisfaction– Workspace and Focus– Behavior Net– “Consciousness”– Deliberation

Real Example MANRD (if time)

The Problem

Every few years sailors must be reassigned Currently this assignment is done by ~280

individuals called “detailers” Navy would like to

– Increase retention– Increase moral– Increase manning percentages– Lower costs

Self instigating action

Instigate correspondence with a sailor

I should check for rollovers

AS1 John Smith is 10 months from his PRD

AS1 John Smith,

You are 10 months from your projected rotation date. Please be thinking of assignments that you might want.

V/R,

IDA

Perception

Lowest-level perception codelets use regular expressions to search the email for data

Slipnet implemented as a (mostly) feed-forward network

Each idea within an email is determined to be in one overall category based on the information extracted

Information gleaned from emails are put into the appropriate category/slot in the workspace based on the idea category

Perception Example

Read sailor emails and extract pertinent data

Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2001 16:53:23 +0000

From: Robert A. Valens <rvalens@navy.mil.us>

Subject: new job

IDA,

I am approaching my 9 month PRD window. Please find me a job. My SSN is 545769801. It would be just great if you can find something in Norfolk.

Thanks,

AK3 Valens

Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2001 16:53:23 +0000

From: Robert A. Valens <rvalens@navy.mil.us>

Subject: new job

IDA,

I am approaching my 9 month PRD window. Please find me a job. My SSN is 545769801. It would be just great if you can find something in Norfolk.

Thanks,

AK3 Valens

Date

NameEmail

IdeaSSNLocation PreferenceRating

Idea Categories

Responds to various kinds of emailsDate: Tue, 09 Jun 2001 16:53:23 +0000

From: Mark Legault <allen@navy.us>

Subject: SSN 519884939

IDA,

This is Mark again.

Thanks for the jobs you found for me. However, I am not totally satisfied with them. Can I wait for the next requisition cycle?

Thanks,

AK1 Mark Legault

Next Requisition CycleDate: Tue, 09 Jun 2001 16:53:23 +0000

From: Mark Legault <allen@navy.us>

Subject: new assignment

IDA,

I am AK1 Mark Allen Legault. Please find me a job.

Thanks,

AK1 Legault

No SSN

Accept a Job Job Refusals

Junk MailsNon-Specific Emails

Date: Wed, 10 Jun 2001 1:53:23 +0000

From: Mark Legault <allen@navy.us>

Subject: SSN: 519884939

IDA, I prefer to take the second job.

Thanks,

AK1 Legault

Date: Tue, 09 Jun 2001 16:53:23 +0000

From: Mark Legault <allen@navy.us>

Subject: SSN 519884939

IDA,

Thanks for the jobs you found for me. But I would not like to take either of them. Can you please try to find something else?

Thanks,

AK1 Mark Legault

Date: Tue, 09 Jun 2001 16:53:23 +0000

From: Mark Legault <allen@navy.us>

Subject: SSN 519884939

IDA,

This is Mark again. Thanks for the jobs you found for me. However, I don’t really like any of those jobs. Could you try to find me something in Texas?

Thanks,

AK1 Mark Legault

Date: Tue, 09 Jun 2001 16:53:23 +0000

From: Mark Legault <allen@navy.us>

Subject: SSN 519884939

IDA,

This is Mark again. Thanks for the jobs you found for me. However, I don’t really like any of those jobs. Could you try to find me something in Texas?

Thanks,

AK1 Mark Legault

Date: Tue, 09 Jun 2001 16:53:23 +0000

From: Mark Legault <allen@navy.us>

Subject: SSN 519884939

IDA,

This is Mark again. Thanks for the jobs you found for me. However, I don’t really like any of those jobs. Could you try to find me something in Texas?

Thanks,

AK1 Mark Legault

Multiple Ideas

Recognizes multiple ideas within a single correspondence

Job RefusalJob Preference

Database Perception

Gather necessary data from Navy formatted databases (SQL queries created at runtime)

- Personnel- Job Requisitions- Training- Rollovers- AutoCost (PCS cost calculator)

Constraint Satisfaction

Evaluate jobs for sailors (Linear Functional)Fitness values from IDA’s workspace

Workspace and Focus

Workspace is a Hashtable with the information categories used as keys

The focus uses a subset of workspace categories (also as a Hashtable) and has methods to transmit data to and from long-term memory

Behavior Net

Nodes in the network pass activation over links The structure of the network is stored in an XML file

– Allows experimentation with different behavior configurations– Makes tools possible that can be used by non-programmers– Facilitates easy maintenance

Each behavior is a template that spawns a new version of itself with variables bound whenever a behavior codelet tells it to instantiate

“Consciousness”

Coalition Manager– A pseudo-clustering mechanism– Based on highest average association strength

Spotlight Manager– Based on highest average activation

Broadcast– Hashtable of tagged information taken from the codelets in the

spotlight– Each codelet is a subclass of BaseCodelet which contains the

code necessary to receive the broadcast

Deliberation

Create and Adjust Job Transition Timelines

Timeline is displayed as dates are adjustedDetach date, Take up month, and Training (if needed) are put in firstIf Training is needed, then travel time to the school is addedNext, Leave time is put in

Finally, Travel time to the job is calculated to determine when the sailor will arrive.

From: Wayne Alan Lewis<wlewis@navy.us> Subject: SSN 241410214  IDA,  Thanks for the jobs you found for me. But I would not like to take either of them.Can you please try to find something else? Thanks, AK3 Wayne Lewis

Real Example

Negotiate with sailors

Date: Tue, 09 Jun 2001 16:53:23 +0000 From: Wayne Alan Lewis <wlewis@navy.us> Subject: SSN: 241410214  IDA,  I am AK3 Wayne Alan Lewis . I would really like for you to find me a job in Norfolk.  Thanks, AK3 Lewis

AK3 Wayne Alan Lewis,

These are the 2 jobs that seem perfect for you: Take 09067 billet at FIGHTER SQUADRON - VF 101 stationed at VIRGINIA BEACH. Take up month 9907. Take 57012 billet at COMMANDER NAVAL AIR FORCE, US ATLANTIC FLEET stationed at NORFOLK. Take up month 9906.

Please, make your choice.

V/R IDA

AK3 Wayne Alan Lewis,

These are the 1 jobs that best suit you. I'm sure you would like them. Take 49146 billet at NAVAL AIR STATION NIF stationed at POINT MUGU. Take up month 9905.

Please, make your choice.

V/R IDA

From: Wayne Allen Lewis <wlewis@navy.us> Subject: SSN: 241410214  IDA,  I prefer to take 12345 billet.  Thanks, AK3 Lewis

AK3 Wayne Lewis,  I did not offer that job. Please check the list again.   V/R

IDA.

From: Wayne Allen Lewis <allen@navy.us> Subject: SSN: 241410214  IDA, I prefer to take billet 49146.  Thanks, AK3 Lewis

AK3 Wayne Alan Lewis,

I've got you posted to go to POINT MUGU. Should receive your orders soon.

V/R IDA.

The New IDA

IDA became MANRD (Multi-Agent Naval Resource Distributor)– MANRD consists of a “Sailor Agent” for every sailor

and a “Command Agent” for every command– Agents converse with their humans through email

and a web interface– The agents meet in a simulated marketplace

The Task

Increase sailor satisfaction with the detailing process

Give commands some input Reduce the number of human detailers needed Increase manning percentages at sea Increase retention

Why Individual Agents?

Advocacy!!

Challenge #1 – Managing Agents

> 300,000 sailors ~ 45,000 commands

Each with their own agent

Response #1 – Managing Agents

Not as bad as it seems– Only about 5000 agents will need to be active at a

time

Remove or replace “expensive” IDA modules – “Consciousness”– Behavior Nets– Sparse Distributed Memory

Share modules between agents

Challenge #2 – Make the sailor happy

Happy sailors work better and are more likely to “Stay Navy”

Sailors have the perception that they are not getting all of their job options

Response #2 – Make the sailor happy

The system should show the sailor ALL the jobs– Denote those jobs for which the sailor is applicable– Be able to tell the sailor why they are NOT applicable for

certain jobs if the sailor asks

Have separate lists of suggested jobs– Those that the Navy would like as determined by the Navy

agent– Those that the sailor would like as determined by his or her

agent

Add incentives where appropriate

Challenge #3 – Involve the commands

Commands currently have no say in who they get

Response #3 – Involve the commands

Commands have their own agent They can provide a preference for job

applicants Let commands give more specific information

about the needs of a given job Allocate some incentives to the commands for

use in hiring

Challenge #4 – Maintain Navy readiness

A completely open market will not increase sea manning (within the Navy budget)

Probably wouldn’t increase moral as some sailors (or commands) would feel that they lost out

Straight optimization suffers from similar problems along with a lack of advocacy

Response #4 – Maintain Navy readiness

Navy determines the environment Navy determines minimum acceptable match

fitness (e.g. through optimization technique) Navy sets hard constraints (policies that must

be adhered to) Navy allocates some incentives where needed

Points to Leave With

Artificial agents should be used to focus the efforts of the human agents – not replace them

Ultimately, it’s not about how well the artificial agents or the computer system can perform; it’s about the perception of the sailors.

Questions? Discussion?