The Nicole Project at Georgia Tech

The Nicole Project: Current Status

Under Construction


Current Status

Cognitive Architecture: Memory-Based Opportunistic Reasoning

The current theoretical core of the Nicole Project is memory-based opportunistic reasoning, a theory of how an agent operating in a complex, changing environment could flexibly and continuously remember the past and use those remindings opportunistically to chart a course of processing. This theory has three components: a theory of memory which allows anytime and asynchronous retrieval based on the agent's context, a theory of case-based problem solving that uses integration mechanisms to incorporate new information at any point during problem solving, and a theory of metacontrol based on an utility-based search through a space of task networks. A more complete description of the MBOR theory is available either as an HTML document or in postscript format as:

Tools and Systems: Nicole0.4.alpha

The MBOR theory is implemented in a system called NICOLE , which is divided into three sub-modules: the memory system MOORE, the case-based reasoner MPA, and the metacontroller TASKSTORM. The core components of NICOLE - the knowledge representation system CRYSTAL and the memory system TASKSTORM - are used outside of the NICOLE system itself in the ISAAC science-fiction story understanding system.

Evaluation: Computational Models of the Utility Problem.

To evaluate this theory, we propose a methodology based on computational models of artificial intelligence systems which allows both algorithmic and performance analyses of the systems in question. This theory allows the evaluation of the NICOLE system over a wide space of design decisions, domain characteristics and problem distributions, allowing us to evaluate both the system as a whole and the contributions of various components of the system to its overall performance.

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Direct academic correspondence to:

For more information, try `finger' or contact me directly via e-mail to centaur@cc.gatech.edu.


Last Modified: August 10, 1995 by Anthony Francis (centaur@cc.gatech.edu)