FIRST CALL FOR PAPERS "Logic and Reasoning with Neural Networks" Workshop at the International Conference on Logic Programming ICLP'94 Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy June 17 or 18, 1994 Description of the Workshop =========================== The goal of the workshop is to initiate discussions and foster interaction between researchers interested in the use of neural networks and connectionist models for various aspects of logic and reasoning. There are a number of domains where the combination of neural networks and logic opens up interesting perspectives: * Methods for Reasoning - cognitively plausible models of reasoning - reasoning with vague knowledge - neural inference mechanisms - probabilistic reasoning with neural networks * Knowledge Representation Aspects - representation of non-symbolic information - knowledge acquisition from raw data (rule extraction) with neural networks - representation of vague knowledge - similarity-based access to knowledge - context-dependent retrieval of facts * Integration of Symbolic and Neural Components - combining sub-symbolic and symbolic information - pattern recognition - sensor fusion * Implementation Techniques - connectionist implementations of symbolic inference mechanisms - neural networks as massively parallel implementation technique - neural networks for learning of search heuristics There are at least three major aspects where a discussion of neural networks / connectionist models can be beneficial to the logic programming community at this time: * development of reasoning techniques which are closer to the way humans reason in everyday situation * dealing with vague knowledge, i.e. imprecise, uncertain, incomplete, inconsistent information, possibly from different sources and in various formats * efficiency improvements for symbolic inference mechanisms, e.g. through adaptive learning from previously solved problems, or content-oriented access to rules and facts Submission of Papers ==================== Prospective contributors are invited to submit papers or extended abstracts to the organizers by April 1, 1994. They will be notified about acceptance or rejection by May 1. The final version of the papers is due June 1. We are planning to make the full papers accessible to the workshop participants in an ftp archive, and hand out only copies of the abstracts. If possible, please use a text processing program that allows you to produce PostScript output; otherwise it might be difficult to print out copies on other systems than the one you used. Preliminary Agenda ================== The workshop is planned for one day, the actual lenght will depend on the number of presentations and participants. There will be four sessions of approximately 1 1/2 hours; ideally, each of these sessions would concentrate on one of the four topics mentioned in the workshop description above. There will be one or two talks of approximately 30 min, where the essential background on the use of neural networks for logic and reasoning will be presented. The main purpose for this is to offer a brief introduction to those attendants with little knowledge of neural networks, and to provide a common framework of reference for the workshop. Care will be taken that these presentations concentrate on fundamental aspects, providing an overview of the field rather than a detailed technical review of one particular system or approach. The rest of the time slots will be used for presentations of submitted papers (20-30 min) with enough time for discussion. The final time schedule will be distributed after May 1. The workshop will be concluded by a final discussion and a wrap-up of important aspects. Important Dates =============== Submission deadline April 1, 1994 Notification of acceptance/rejection May 1, 1994 Final version of papers due June 1, 1994 Date of the workshop June 17 or 18, 1994 Registration ============ According to the standard policy of LP post-coference workshops, the workshops are integrating part of the conference. This means that participants of the workshop are expected to register for the conference; there will be a small additional fee for the workshop (probably US $40). Workshop Organizers =================== Franz Kurfess Dept. of Neural Information Processing University of Ulm D-89069 Ulm, Germany Voice : +49/731 502-41+4953 Fax : +49/731 502-4156 E-mail: kurfess@neuro.informatik.uni-ulm.de Alessandro Sperduti CSD - University of Pisa Corso Italia 40 56100 Pisa, Italy Voice : +39/50 510 248 Fax : +39/50 510 226 E-mail: perso@di.unipi.it