

Unit: 2 AI Problems
and Search
OutlineLooping
▪ Problems,
▪ Problem Spaces and Search: Problem as state space search,
▪ Production systems
▪ Problem Characteristics
▪ Heuristic Search Techniques:
▪ Hill Climbing,

102046702 Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

▪ Best First Search and A*
▪ Problem Reduction and AO*
▪ Constraint Satisfaction
▪ Means-Ends Analysis

Introduction

102046702 Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Problem and Problem Solving
 The steps that are required to build a system to solve a particular problem are:
1. Problem Definition that must include precise specifications of what the initial situation will be, as well as
what final situations constitute acceptable solutions to the problem.
2. Problem Analysis, this can have immense impact on the appropriateness of various possible techniques
for solving the problem.
3. Isolate and Represent the task knowledge required to solve the problem.
4. Selection of the best technique(s) for solving the particular problem.

 Problem solving is a process of generating solutions from the observed data.

State and State Space Representation
 A state is a representation of problem elements at a given moment.
 A state space is the set of all possible states reachable from the initial state.
 A state space forms a graph in which the nodes are states and the arcs between nodes are
actions.
 In a state space, a path is a sequence of states connected by a sequence of actions.
 The solution of a problem is a part of the graph formed by the state space.
Define the Problem as State Space Search
 To provide a formal description of a problem, we need to do the following:
1. Define a state space that contains all the possible configurations of the relevant objects.
2. Specify one or more states that describe possible situations, from which the problem solving process may
start. These states are called initial states.
3. Specify one or more states that would be acceptable solution to the problem. These states are called goal
states.

 Specify a set of rules that describe the actions (operators) available.

 The problem can then be solved by using the rules, in combination with an appropriate
control strategy, to move through the problem space until a path from an initial state to a
goal state is found. This process is known as ‘search’.
State Space Representation – Water Jug
 Problem Definition: You are given two jugs, a 4-gallon one and a 3-gallon one, a pump which
has unlimited water which you can use to fill the jug, and the ground on which water may be
poured. Neither jug has any measuring markings on it. How can you get exactly 2 gallons of
water in the 4-gallon jug?

1. Initial State
 We will represent a state of the problem as a tuple (x, y), where x represents the amount of water in the 4-
gallon jug and y represents the amount of water in the 3-gallon jug.
 Note that 0 ≤ x ≤ 4, and 0 ≤ y ≤ 3.
 Here the initial state is (0, 0). The goal state is (2, n) for any value of n.
2. Production Rules
State Space Representation – Water Jug

Sr. Current state Next state Description

1 (x, y) If x<4 → (4, y) fill the 4- gallon jug

2 (x, y) If x<3 → (x,3) fill the 3-gallon jug

3 (x, y) If x>0 → (x-d, y) pour some water out of the 4- gallon jug

4 (x, y) If y>0 → (x, y-d) pour some water out of the 3- gallon jug

5 (x, y) If x>0 → (0, y) empty the 4- gallon jug on the ground

6 (x, y) If y>0 → (x, 0) empty the 3- gallon jug on the ground

2. Production Rules
State Space Representation – Water Jug

Sr. Current state Next state Description

7 (x, y) If x + y >= 4 & y>0(4,y-(4-x)) pour water from the 3- gallon jug into the 4-gallon
jug until the 4- gallon jug is full

8 (x, y) If x + y >= 3 & x>0 (x-(3-y),3)) pour water from the 4- gallon jug
into the 3-gallon jug until the 3- gallon jug is full

9 (x, y) If x + y <= 4 & y>0(x+y,0) pour all the water from the 3gallon jug into the 4-gallon
jug

2. Production Rules
State Space Representation – Water Jug

Sr. Current state Next state Description

10 (x, y) If x + y <= 3 & x>0 → (0,x+y) pour all the water from the 4 -gallon jug into the 3-
gallon jug

11 (0,2) → (2,0) pour the 2-gallon from the 3 – gallon jug into the 4-
gallon jug

12 (2,y) → (0, y) empty the 2 gallon in the 4 gallon on the ground

Water Jug – Solution 3.
Productions for the water jug problem
Gallons in the 4- gallon Jug Gallons in the 3- gallon Rule Applied
0 0
0 3 2
3 0 9
3 3 2
4 2 7
0 2 5 or 12
2 0 9 or 11
State Space Representation – 8 Puzzle
 Problem Definition: The 8 puzzle consists of eight numbered, movable tiles set in a 3x3
frame. One cell of the frame is always empty thus making it possible to move an adjacent
numbered tile into the empty cell. Such a puzzle is illustrated in following diagram.

2 8 3 1 2 3

1 6 4 8 4

7 5 7 6 5
Initial State Goal State
State Space Representation – 8 Puzzle
 A solution to the problem is an appropriate sequence of moves, such as “move tiles 5 to the
right, move tile 7 to the left ,move tile 6 to the down” etc…

2 8 3 2 8 3
1 6 4 1 4
7 5 7 6 5

Initial State Next State after

one legal move
Game Tree

Puzzle
-
8
Problem Characteristics
1. Is the problem decomposable into a set of independent smaller or easier sub-problems?
2. Can solution steps be ignored or at least undone if they prove unwise?
3. Is the problem’s universe predictable?
4. Is a good solution to the problem obvious without comparison to all other possible
solutions?
5. Is the desired solution a state of the world or a path to a state?
6. Is a large amount of knowledge absolutely required to solve the problem or is knowledge
important only to constrain the search?
7. Can a computer that is simply given the problem return the solution or will the solution of
the problem require interaction between the computer and a person?

Chess Analysis with Respect to Seven Problem Characteristics

Problem Characteristics Satisfied Justification

Is the problem decomposable ? No Dependent moves

Can solution steps be ignored or at least

No Wrong move can’t be undone
undone

Is the problem’s universe predictable No Moves of other player can not be predicted

Is a good solution absolute or relative? Absolute Winning position need not be compared
 Is the solution a state or a path? Path Not only solution but how it is achieved also matters

What is the role of knowledge? Domain specific knowledge is required to constrain search

Does the task require Interaction with a

No Once all rules are defined, no need for interaction
person?

8 Puzzle Analysis with Respect to Seven Problem Characteristics

Problem Characteristics Satisfied Justification

Is the problem decomposable ? No Dependent moves

Can solution steps be ignored or at least

Yes We can undo the previous move
undone

Is the problem’s universe predictable Yes Problem Universe is predictable, it is a single person game
 Is a good solution absolute or relative? Absolute Winning position need not be compared

Is the solution a state or a path? Path Not only solution but how it is achieved also matters

What is the role of knowledge? Domain specific knowledge is required to constrain search

Does the task require Interaction with a

No In 8 puzzle additional assistance is not required
person?

Production System
 Production systems provide appropriate structures for performing and describing search
processes.
 A production system has four basic components:
1. A set of rules each consisting of a left side that determines the applicability of the rule and a right side
that describes the operation to be performed if the rule is applied.
 2. A database of current facts established during the process of inference.
3. A control strategy that specifies the order in which the rules will be compared with facts in the database
and also specifies how to resolve conflicts in selection of several rules or selection of more facts.
4. A rule applier.

 Production systems provide us with good ways of describing the operations that can be
performed in a search for a solution to a problem.

Production System Characteristics

1. A monotonic production system is a production system in which the application of a rule
never prevents the later application of another rule that could also have been applied at
the time the first rule was selected.
2. A non-monotonic production system is one in which this is not true. This production system
increases the problem-solving efficiency of the machine by not keeping a record of the
changes made in the previous search process.
3. A partially communicative production system is a production system with the property that
if the application of a particular sequence of rules transforms state P into state Q, then any
combination of those rules that is allowable also transforms state P into state Q.
4. A commutative production system is a production system that is both monotonic and
partially commutative. These type of production systems is used when the order of
operation is not important, and the changes are reversible.
 Search Techniques

102046702 Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Introduction
 Search Techniques can be classified as:
1. Uninformed/Blind Search Control Strategy:
 Do not have additional information about states beyond problem definition.
 Total search space is looked for the solution.
 Example: Breadth First Search (BFS), Depth First Search (DFS), Depth Limited Search (DLS).
2. Informed/Directed Search Control Strategy:
 Some information about problem space is used to compute the preference among various possibilities for
exploration and expansion.
 Examples: Best First Search, Problem Decomposition, A*, Mean end Analysis
Uninformed Search Techniques
 ✓ A ✓ A
✓ B ✓ C ✓ B C ✓
✓
✓ D ✓ E F✓ G ✓ D ✓ E F ✓ G ✓

H✓ ✓ H

Breadth First Search Depth

First Search
Difference Between DFS & BFS
 Depth First Search Breath First Search
DFS requires less memory since only the BFS guarantees that the space of possible moves is nodes on
the current path are stored. systematically examined; this search requires considerably more memory
resources.

By chance, DFS may find a solution without The search systematically proceeds testing each examining
much of the search space at all. node that is reachable from a parent node before it Then it finds a
solution faster. expands to any child of those nodes.

If the selected path does not reach to the BFS will not get trapped exploring a blind alley.
solution node, DFS gets stuck into a blind alley.

Does not guarantee to find solution. If there is a solution, BFS is guaranteed to find it. Backtracking
is required if wrong path is selected.
Heuristic Search Techniques
 Every search process can be viewed as a traversal of a directed graph, in which the nodes
represent problem states and the arcs represent relationships between states.
 The search process must find a path through this graph, starting at an initial state and ending
in one or more final states.
 Domain-specific knowledge must be added to improve search efficiency.
 The Domain-specific knowledge about the problem includes the nature of states, cost of
transforming from one state to another, and characteristics of the goals.
 This information can often be expressed in the form of Heuristic Evaluation Function.
• Start with any random city.
• Go to the next nearest city.
Traveling Salesmen Problem (TSP)
Nearest Neighbor

Heuristic
Heuristic Search Techniques
 Heuristic function maps from problem state descriptions to the measures of desirability,
usually represented as numbers.
 The value of the heuristic function at a given node in the search process gives a good
estimate of whether that node is on the desired path to a solution.
Heuristic Search Techniques
 Well-designed heuristic functions can play an important role in efficiently guiding a search
process toward a solution.
 In general, heuristic search improves the quality of the path that is explored.
 In such problems, the search proceeds using current information about the problem to
predict which path is closer to the goal and follow it, although it does not always guarantee
to find the best possible solution.
 Such techniques help in finding a solution within reasonable time and space (memory).
 Some prominent intelligent search algorithms are stated below:
1. Hill Climbing
2. Best-first Search
3. A* Search
4. Constraint Search
5. Means-ends analysis
Hill Climbing Example - Blocks World Problem
Start Goal
A D
0 4
D C

C B

B A

Local heuristic:
+1 for each block that is resting on the thing it is supposed to be resting on.
-1 for each block that is resting on a wrong thing.
Start
Hill Climbing Example - Blocks World Problem
A Goal 4 D
0
D D +1
C
B
2 +1
CC A

B -1
B A +1

0 A
Hill Climbing Example - Blocks World Problem
D 0

C C D C 0
Local
B A B A D
heuristic: B
Start Goal
A -3 D +3 D -2 C +2 C -1 B +1

-6 6
0 0
B A

Global heuristic:
For each block that has the correct support structure:
Hill Climbing Example - Blocks World Problem
+1 to every block in the support structure. For
each block that has a wrong support structure:
-1 to every block in the support structure.
Start
A
Goal
-6 D
6
D D C
-3
C B
C
B A A

-6 A
D -2
C C D C -1
Hill Climbing Example - Blocks World Problem
B

Global heuristic:
Simple Hill Climbing - Algorithm
1. Evaluate the initial state. If it is also goal state, then return
it and quit. Otherwise continue with the initial state as the
current state.
2. Loop until a solution is found or until there are no new operators
left to be applied in the current state:
a. Select an operator that has not yet been applied to the current
state and apply it to produce a new state.
b. Evaluate the new state
i. If it is the goal state, then return it and quit.
ii.If it is not a goal state but it is better than the current state,
then make it the current state.
iii.If it is not better than the current state, then continue in the
loop.
 Local Maxima: a local maximum is a state that is better than
▪
all its neighbors but is not better than some other
states further away.
▪ To overcome local maximum problem: Utilize backtracking technique. Maintain a list of visited states and
explore a new path.

▪ Plateau: a plateau is a flat area of the search space in

which, a whole set of neighboring states have the same
values.
▪ To overcome plateaus: Make a big jump. Randomly
select a state far away from current state.

▪ Ridge: is a special kind of local maximum. It is an area of

the search space that is higher than surrounding
Image source: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/introduction-hill-climbing-artificial- areas and that itself has slop.
intelligence/ ▪ To overcome Ridge: In this kind of obstacle, use two
or more rules before testing. It implies moving in
several directions at once.
Steepest-Ascent Hill Climbing - Algorithm
1. Evaluate the initial state. If it is also a goal state, then return it
and quit. Otherwise, continue with the initial state as the current
state.
2. Loop until a solution is found or until a complete iteration produces no
change to current state:
a. Let S be a state such that any possible successor of the current state
will be better than S.
b. For each operator that applies to the current state do:
▪ Apply the operator and generate a new state
▪ Evaluate the new state. If it is a goal state, then return it and quit. If
not, compare it to S. If it is better, then set S to this state. If it is
 not better, leave S alone.
c. If the S is better than the current state, then set current state to S.

In simple hill climbing, the first closer node is chosen, whereas in steepest ascent hill climbing all
successors are compared and the closest to the solution is chosen.
Best First Search
 DFS is good because it allows a solution to be found without expanding all competing
branches. BFS is good because it does not get trapped on dead end paths.
 Best first search combines the advantages of both DFS and BFS into a single method.
 One way of combining BFS and DFS is to follow a single path at a time, but switch paths
whenever some competing path looks more promising than the current one does.
 At each step of the Best First Search process, we select the most promising of the nodes we
have generated so far.
 This is done by applying an appropriate heuristic function to each of them.
 We then expand the chosen node by using the rules to generate its successors.
Best First Search
 If one of them is a solution, we can quit. If not, all those new nodes are added to the set of
nodes generated so far.
 Algorithm: Best First Search
1. Start with OPEN containing just the initial state
2. Until a goal is found or there are no nodes left on OPEN do:
a. Pick the best node on OPEN
b. Generate its successors.
c. For each successor do:
I. If it has not been generated before, evaluate it, add it to OPEN and record its parent.
II. If it has been generated before, change the parent if this new path is better than the previous one. In that case,
update the cost of getting to this node and to any successors that this node may already have.
Best First Search
A* Example
h’(n):The function h’ is an estimate of the additional cost
f’(n) = g(n) + h’(n) of getting from the current node to a goal state.

g(n) :The function g is a cost of getting from

initial state to the current node.
10

A 6 4

6 E 4
0
13 6 1
5 3
17 S B 2
F G
7
10 4 D 6

C 6
A* Example

S
16 14
18
A C
B
16 18
E D
31 17
B F
A* Example

S
16 14
18
A C
B
16 18
E D
17
F
24 19

D G
A* Example

S
16 14
18
A C
B
16 18
E D
23
36
17
B F
F
19
G
A* Example

S
16 14
18
A C
B
16 18
14 15
E D E D
22 19
17
F C F
19
G
A* Example

S
16 14

A
18
C
B
16
14 15
E D E
16
27
17
F A F
19 23 18

G D G
A* Example Solution
10

A 6 4

6 E 4
0
13 6 1
5 3
17
S B 2
F G
7
10 4 D 6

C 6
The A* Algorithm
𝑆→𝐵→𝐸→𝐹→𝐺
Total Cost = 18
 This algorithm uses following functions:
1. f’: Heuristic function that estimates the merits of each node we generate. f’ represents an estimate of
the cost of getting from the initial state to a goal state along with the path that generated the current
node. f’ = g + h’
2. g: The function g is a measure of the cost of getting from initial state to the current node.
3. h’: The function h’ is an estimate of the additional cost of getting from the current node to a goal state.

 The algorithm also uses the lists: OPEN and CLOSED

 OPEN - nodes that have been generated and have had the heuristic function applied to them but which
have not yet been examined. OPEN is actually a priority queue in which the elements with the highest
priority are those with the most promising value of the heuristic function.
The A* Algorithm
 CLOSED - nodes that have already been examined. We need to keep these nodes in memory if we want to
search a graph rather than a tree, since whenever a new node is generated; we need to check whether it
has been generated before.
Step 1:
 Start with OPEN containing only initial node.
 Set that node’s g value to 0, its h’ value to whatever it is, and its f’ value to h’+0 or h’.
 Set CLOSED to empty list.

Step 2: Until a goal node is found, repeat the following procedure:

 If there are no nodes on OPEN, report failure.
 Otherwise select the node on OPEN with the lowest f’ value.
 Call it BESTNODE. Remove it from OPEN. Place it in CLOSED.
 See if the BESTNODE is a goal state. If so exit and report a solution.
The A* Algorithm
 Otherwise, generate the successors of BESTNODE but do not set the BESTNODE to point to them yet.
Step 3: For each of the SUCCESSOR, do the following:
a. Set SUCCESSOR to point back to BESTNODE. These backwards links will make it possible to recover the
path once a solution is found.
b. Compute g(SUCCESSOR) = g(BESTNODE) + the cost of getting from BESTNODE to SUCCESSOR
c. See if SUCCESSOR is the same as any node on OPEN. If so call the node OLD.
i. Check whether it is cheaper to get to OLD via its current parent or to SUCESSOR via BESTNODE by comparing
their g values.
ii. If OLD is cheaper, then do nothing. If SUCCESSOR is cheaper then reset OLD’s parent link to point to BESTNODE.
iii. Record the new cheaper path in g(OLD) and update f‘(OLD).
iv. If SUCCESSOR was not on OPEN, see if it is on CLOSED. If so, call the node on CLOSED OLD and add OLD to the
list of BESTNODE’s successors.
v. If SUCCESSOR was not already on either OPEN or CLOSED, then put it on OPEN and add it to the list of
BESTNODE’s successors. Compute f’(SUCCESSOR) = g(SUCCESSOR) + h’(SUCCESSOR)
Problem Reduction
 AND-OR graph (or tree) is useful for representing the solution of problems that can be solved
by decomposing them into a set of smaller problems, all of which must then be solved.
 This decomposition or reduction generates arcs that we call AND arcs.
 One AND arc may point to any numbers of successor nodes. All of which must then be solved
in order for the arc to point solution.
 In order to find solution in an AND-OR graph we need an algorithm similar to best –first
search but with the ability to handle the AND arcs appropriately.
 We define FUTILITY, if the estimated cost of solution becomes greater than the value of
FUTILITY then we abandon the search, FUTILITY should be chosen to correspond to a
threshold.
AND-OR Graph
 In following figure AND arcs are indicated with a line connecting all the components.
AND – OR Graph
A A

(38)
(9) (18)

B D B C D
(5) (4)
C (17) (9)
(27)
(3) G H
E F (3) (4)
I J
(5) (10)
(15) (10)
Heuristic Search Techniques for AO*
 Traverse the graph starting at the initial node and following the current best path, and
accumulate the set of nodes that are on the path and have not yet been expanded.
 Pick one of these unexpanded nodes and expand it. Add its successors to the graph and
computer f'(cost of the remaining distance) for each of them.
 Change the f' estimate of the newly expanded node to reflect the new information produced
by its successors. Propagate this change backward through the graph. Decide which is the
current best path.
 The propagation of revised cost estimation backward is in the tree is not necessary in A*
algorithm. This is because in AO* algorithm expanded nodes are re-examined so that the
current best path can be selected.
Constraint Satisfaction
 Many AI problems can be viewed as problems of constraint satisfaction.

 For example, Crypt-arithmetic puzzle:

 As compared with a straightforward search procedure, viewing a problem as one of the
constraint satisfaction can substantially reduce the amount of search.
 Two-step process:
1. Constraints are discovered and propagated as far as possible.
2. If there is still not a solution, then search begins, adding new constraints.  Initial
state contains the original constraints given in the problem.
arithmetic
 A goal Puzzle
state is any state that has been constrained “enough”. i.e. The goal is to
discover some problem state that satisfies the given set of constraints.
Initial state:
• Assign values between 0 to 9.
• No two letters have the same value.
• The sum of the digits must be as shown.

1 1

9 5 6 S 9
-Crypt E 5
N
1 0 8 6
D 7
 M 1
1 0 6 5
O 0
R 8
Y 2
Means End Analysis
 Most of the search strategies either reason forward of backward, Often a mixture of the two
directions is appropriate.
 Such mixed strategy would make it possible to solve the major parts of problem first and
solve the smaller problems the arise when combining them together.
 Such a technique is called Means - Ends Analysis.
 The means -ends analysis process centers around finding the difference between current
state and goal state.
 The problem space of means - ends analysis has
 an initial state and one or more goal state,
 a set of operate with a set of preconditions their application and difference functions that computes the
difference between two state a(i) and s(j).
 The means-ends analysis process can be applied recursively for a problem.
Means End Analysis
 Following are the main Steps which describes the working of MEA technique for solving a
problem.
 First, evaluate the difference between Initial State and final State.
 Select the various operators which can be applied for each difference.
 Apply the operator at each difference, which reduces the difference between the current state and goal
state.

 In the MEA process, we detect the differences between the current state and goal state.
 Once these differences occur, then we can apply an operator to reduce the differences.
 But sometimes it is possible that an operator cannot be applied to the current state.
Means End Analysis
 So, we create the sub-problem of the current state, in which operator can be applied, such
type of backward chaining in which operators are selected, and then sub goals are set up to
establish the preconditions of the operator is called Operator Subgoaling.
Algorithm : Means-Ends Analysis
1. Compare CURRENT to GOAL, if there are no differences between both then
return Success and Exit.
2. Else, select the most significant difference and reduce it by doing the
following steps until the success or failure occurs.
a. Select a new operator O which is applicable for the current
difference, and if there is no such operator, then signal failure.
b. Attempt to apply operator O to CURRENT. Make a description of two
states.
i. O-Start, a state in which O?s preconditions are satisfied.
ii. O-Result, the state that would result if O were applied In O-
start.
c. If (First-Part <------ MEA (CURRENT, O-START) And (LAST-Part <----MEA
(O-Result, GOAL), are successful, then signal Success and return the
result of combining FIRST-PART, O, and LAST-PART.
Thank You!

102046702 Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning