User profiling with Case-Based Reasoning and Bayesian Networks

Agent technology provides many services to users. The tasks in which agents are involved include information filtering, information retrieval, user's tasks automation, browsing assistance and so on. In order to assist users, agents have to learn their preferences. These preferences are represented by user profiles. Many techniques have been developed for user profiling, which vary from statistical keyword analysis to social filtering algorithms and different machine learning techniques. This paper presents a technique that integrates Case-Based Reasoning and Bayesian Networks to build user profiles incrementally. Case-Based Reasoning provides a mechanism to acquire knowledge about user actions that are worth recording to determine his habits and preferences. Bayesian Networks provide a tool to model quantitative and qualitative relationships between items of interest. Information needed to build the BN is taken from cases stored in the case base. This technique supports particularly users' routines and changes of interests over time.

[1]  E. Theissen,et al.  Knowing Me, Knowing You: Trader Anonymity and Informed Trading in Parallel Markets * , 2001 .

[2]  Pattie Maes,et al.  Agents that reduce work and information overload , 1994, CACM.

[3]  David A. Aha,et al.  Cooperative Bayesian and Case-Based Reasoning for Solving Multiagent Planning Tasks , 1996 .

[4]  Janet L. Kolodner,et al.  Case-Based Reasoning , 1988, IJCAI 1989.

[5]  Henry Lieberman,et al.  Letizia: An Agent That Assists Web Browsing , 1995, IJCAI.

[6]  David Heckerman,et al.  A Tutorial on Learning with Bayesian Networks , 1998, Learning in Graphical Models.

[7]  Bruce D'Ambrosio,et al.  Inference in Bayesian Networks , 1999, AI Mag..

[8]  T. Joachims.  WebWatcher : A Tour Guide for the World Wide Web , 1997 .

[9]  I. B. Crabtree,et al.  Automatic Learning of User Profiles — Towards the Personalisation of Agent Services , 1998 .

[10]  Michael J. Pazzani,et al.  Syskill & Webert: Identifying Interesting Web Sites , 1996, AAAI/IAAI, Vol. 1.

[11]  Thorsten Joachims,et al.  Web Watcher: A Tour Guide for the World Wide Web , 1997, IJCAI.

[12]  Peter Haddawy,et al.  An Overview of Some Recent Developments in Bayesian Problem-Solving Techniques , 1999, AI Mag..

[13]  Agnar Aamodt,et al.  Case-Based Reasoning: Foundational Issues, Methodological Variations, and System Approaches , 1994, AI Commun..

[14]  Barry Crabtree,et al.  Knowing Me, Knowing You: Practical Issues in the Personalisation of Agent Technology , 2002 .

[15]  Agnar Aamodt,et al.  Integrating Bayesian Networks into Knowledge-Intensive CBR , 1998 .

[16]  Beerud Dilip Sheth,et al.  A learning approach to personalized information filtering , 1994 .

[17]  David Heckerman,et al.  Decision-theoretic case-based reasoning , 1994, IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern. Part A.

[18]  Umberto Straccia,et al.  User Profile Modeling and Applications to Digital Libraries , 1999, ECDL.