Research Research in the AI laboratory tends to be highly interdisciplinary, building on ideas from computer science, linguistics, psychology, economics, biology, controls, and philosophy. In pursuing this approach, laboratory faculty and students work closely with colleagues throughout the University. This collaborative environment, coupled with our unusually diverse perspectives leads to a valuable interchange of ideas within and across research groups. The long-term goal of much research at the AI laboratory is to develop autonomous agents capable of behaving effectively in physical and software environments.
Effective behavior requires integration of many capabilities.
Additional research at the laboratory focuses on methods for designing agent interaction environments, predicting agent behavior, and tools for evaluating effective agents. Often the significance of breakthroughs in theory and in the laboratory are best evaluated in the context of real-world applications. Among the various applications currently explored by members of the AI Laboratory are digital libraries, simulated environments for training people, user interfaces to complex automation systems, mobile robotics for nuclear reactor maintenance, intelligent transportation systems, Internet auctions, information systems for K-12 education and computer games. The faculty and graduate students of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory are housed in the Advanced Technology Laboratories Building, on the University's North Campus. Despite their varied interests, the members shared sense of adventurous research draws them together.