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T-61.184 Special course in Information Science I (4 cr) (L)

Statistical and adaptive approaches to conceptual modeling

Organisers: prof. Timo Honkela, D. Sc. Krista Lagus, and M. Sc. Jaakko Särelä
Semester: Autumn 2003
Credit points: 4 cr
Place: First three lectures are held in Lecture hall T4, computer science building, Konemiehentie 2, Otaniemi, Espoo Place for subsequent meetings will be given during the course.
Time: Thursdays 14-16, starting from September 18
Language: English (or Finnish)
Homepage: http://www.cis.hut.fi/Opinnot/T-61.184/
Detailed course brochure

Seminar course description

Conceptual modeling is a task which has traditionally been conducted "by hand". In artificial intelligence knowledge engineers have written descriptions of various domains using formalisms based on predicate logic and other symbolic representations such as semantic networks and rule-based systems. The development of expert systems in 1980s was a notable example of such efforts. As a modern, related attempt the Semantic Web can be mentioned.

An alternative approach is to consider both perceptual and linguistic domains as well as the potential benefits of adaptive models. There is a growing body of research based on pattern recognition techniques and adaptive techniques that attempt to solve the problem of how to model conceptual knowledge using computers.

Course structure

The course begins with three presentations in which the overall theme is introduced in an interdisciplinary manner. A list of topics is given and the participants form groups that will work on their topic guided by one or more senior researchers. The senior researchers have prepared abstracts for the articles as well as a preliminary list of references that is relevant for the topic. Each group will write a scientific article which is the requirement for passing the course. Each article will be submitted either to a scientific conference or to a journal The groups will present their intermediate results during the autumn and present questions to be handled in the general discussion.

Timetable

18 September 2003
Timo Honkela, Krista Lagus and Jaakko Särelä: Conceptual modeling: variety of approaches, philosophical and cognitive aspects.
Preliminary list of topics is introduced.
25 September 2003
Jaakko Särelä, Timo Honkela and Krista Lagus: Overview of statistical and adaptive methods for conceptual modeling.
Final list of topics with abstracts.
2 October 2003
Krista Lagus, Jaakko Särelä and Timo Honkela: Empirical methods in conceptual modeling.
Forming the groups.
From 9 October to 27 November 2003
Group meetings and joint meetings.
4 December 2003
First Miniconference.
16 January 2004
Second Miniconference
Prof. Peter Gärdenfors' visit and guest lecture
19/20 January 2004
Choice of reviewers for each paper.
21 January 2004
Deadline for papers to be reviewed. Papers are send to timo.honkela@hut.fi to be distributed to the reviewers (first four papers sent).
30 January 2004
Deadline for reviews (first four).
13 February 2004
Deadline for papers that will be included in a technical report (either in tex or MS Word format).
Papers will also be submitted elsewhere based on each group's own decision.

Prerequisites for attending

This special course is intended mainly for graduate students, however, advanced undergraduate students may also be admitted (please, contact Jaakko Särelä, with reasons to be considered). Each participant is expected to have reasonably advanced understanding of either the methodological basis (statistical and adaptive methods) or the domain of interest (e.g., conceptual modeling in computer science or artificial intelligence, area of semantics and pragmatics in linguistics, language understanding in psychology, or epistemology in philosophy). Students, e.g., from the following disciplines and areas are welcome:

Language Technology major (Kieliteknologian pää-/sivuaine), Computer and Information Science, and Information Processing Science at Helsinki University of Technology,
KIT (Kieliteknologian opetuksen verkosto, network of language technology education in Finland),
cognitive science, general linguistics, computer science, and theoretical philosophy at University of Helsinki, and
Media Lab of University of Art and Design.

Successful participation does not require specific mathematical modeling or programming skills.

Requirements for passing the course

Course will be graded as accepted / failed. Active participation in producing a scientific article in a group is a requisite for passing the course.

Signing up for the course

HUT students: fill the form at WWW Topi (preferred) OR send email to Jaakko Särelä. Students from other universities: send email to Jaakko Särelä. If you are unable the follow the above procedure, please sign up at the first lecture.

More information

For more information, please contact Prof. Timo Honkela.