Artificial Intelligence and the Design of Cognitive Systems

The Leonardo Software Platform

The Leonardo software platform implements many of the design principles that are described in Volume I of the textbook Artificial Intelligence and the Design of Cognitive Systems, and the specific techniques that are described in Volume II are gradually being implemented in Leonardo's software library. There is therefore a mutual relation between the textbook and the Leonardo system: the system can be used for exercises on the contents of the textbook, and the textbook provides much of the background that is needed for using the system.

The following are some characteristics of the Leonardo system:

• It is not primarily an implementation of A.I. techniques, but a software platform that provides many base services that are useful for the design of intelligent cognitive agents.
• Besides for building A.I. systems, this platform is also proposed as a useful tool for building other types of complex software that is organized around a "semantic" representation of their application.
• Each instance of the Leonardo system is viewed as a software individual, that is, as a system that has an identity, persistence and a duration of life, ability to act, and so forth. For example, each individual may have its own e-mail address so that it can send and receive mail.
• The concept of an action is of basic importance in the design of Leonardo. This is the basis for building systems that act autonomously and according to their own deliberation.
• The Leonardo architecture contains structures that are needed for large-scale application. For example, each Leonardo individual is a member of a Leonardo society; each such society has a registrar that keeps track of the members of the society, distributes software updates, and provides other services. When Leonardo individuals are going to be used in an application then it may be appropriate to introduce a separate Leonardo society for this application.
• A large, open-source knowledgebase for Leonardo individuals is provided by the Common Knowledge Library

The report Leonardo Installation and Facilities provides an introduction to the system. Additional documentation as well as download services are available in the Leonardo webpage.