A Distributed Architecture for an Instructable Problem Solver

Our research goal is to design systems that enable humans to teach tedious, repetitive, simple tasks to a computer. We propose here a learner/problem solver architecture for such a system. The problem solving module is able to combine diverse problem solving strategies on a single problem, by using a common representation for operators, and learning operators by analyzing solution traces. At the distributed processor level, the design provides a general dynamic load balancing system that has little domain knowledge. It is controlled from the next level by a tightly constrained planner. The distributed problem solver testbed enables us to design, experiment with, and evaluate our combined learning/problem solving system for automating users' repetitive tasks.