An Interactive Planning System.

Abstract : A principal goal of our planning and plan execution research is to develop a computer system that interacts with a person planning some activity. The system, designed to be independent of the problem area in which the planning takes place, will allow the person to (1) represent the problem area and the actions that may be performed in it; (2) explore alternative plans for performing the activity; (3) monitor the execution of a plan so produced; and (4) modify the plan as needed during its execution. The system currently being tested allows a person to produce a plan interactively, suggesting alternative actions, showing the effects of actions on the situation, checking for problems in the plan, and (occasionally) suggesting corrections for such problems. The plan is represented as a hierarchy of actions linked together in a network, generally called a 'procedural network'. Current areas of investigation include the following; (1) development of representations for encoding information about a given problem area, stressing the representation of actions that may be performed in it; (2) development of computational methods for identifying difficulties in a plan, such as the overallocation of a resource or the possible effect of one action on the successful performance of subsequent actions; (3) development of strategies for deciding which actions and action sequences should be included in a plan; (4) development of effective communication with the user, including determining which and how much information should be communicated, and how best to present it. (Author)