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Daniel McFarlane

Possible papers associated with this exact author name in Arrow. This page groups case-insensitive exact name matches and is not a full identity disambiguation profile.

2 papers
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2

TIST Journal 2012 Journal Article

An Ensemble Architecture for Learning Complex Problem-Solving Techniques from Demonstration

  • Xiaoqin Shelley Zhang
  • Bhavesh Shrestha
  • Sungwook Yoon
  • Subbarao Kambhampati
  • Phillip DiBona
  • Jinhong K. Guo
  • Daniel McFarlane
  • Martin O. Hofmann

We present a novel ensemble architecture for learning problem-solving techniques from a very small number of expert solutions and demonstrate its effectiveness in a complex real-world domain. The key feature of our “Generalized Integrated Learning Architecture” (GILA) is a set of heterogeneous independent learning and reasoning (ILR) components, coordinated by a central meta-reasoning executive (MRE). The ILRs are weakly coupled in the sense that all coordination during learning and performance happens through the MRE. Each ILR learns independently from a small number of expert demonstrations of a complex task. During performance, each ILR proposes partial solutions to subproblems posed by the MRE, which are then selected from and pieced together by the MRE to produce a complete solution. The heterogeneity of the learner-reasoners allows both learning and problem solving to be more effective because their abilities and biases are complementary and synergistic. We describe the application of this novel learning and problem solving architecture to the domain of airspace management, where multiple requests for the use of airspaces need to be deconflicted, reconciled, and managed automatically. Formal evaluations show that our system performs as well as or better than humans after learning from the same training data. Furthermore, GILA outperforms any individual ILR run in isolation, thus demonstrating the power of the ensemble architecture for learning and problem solving.

AAAI Conference 2010 Conference Paper

Interactive Learning Using Manifold Geometry

  • Eric Eaton
  • Gary Holness
  • Daniel McFarlane

We present an interactive learning method that enables a user to iteratively refine a regression model. The user examines the output of the model, visualized as the vertical axis of a 2D scatterplot, and provides corrections by repositioning individual data instances to the correct output level. Each repositioned data instance acts as a control point for altering the learned model, using the geometry underlying the data. We capture the underlying structure of the data as a manifold, on which we compute a set of basis functions as the foundation for learning. Our results show that manifold-based interactive learning improves performance monotonically with each correction, outperforming alternative approaches.