Proposals

There are several possible projects on disparate topics, categorised below. Roughly, each first-level dot corresponds to a project.

• MAS programming and simulation
  • Making programming frameworks simulable
  • Designing a simulable framework for agent programming
• tuProlog in Kotlin (2P-Kt)
  • Clauses storage
  • Support for other platforms
    • JS-Browser support
    • Native support
    • Python support
    • .NET support
  • Design and implementation of libraries
  • Design and implementation of tools/features
    • Language-oriented features
  • Utility features or optimizations
    • Tabled Prolog
    • Labelled Variables in Logic Programming (LVLP)
    • Concurrent Resolution
• Logic Programming, and Automatic Reasoning
  • Inductive Logic Programming (ILP)
  • Abductive Logic Program
  • Answer Set Programming (ASP)
  • Constraint Logic Programming (CLP)
    • Constraint Handling Rules (CHR)
  • Defeasible Reasoning (DR)
    • Argumentation
      • Modularity in Argumentation
      • Dialogical Argumentation
• Coordination
  • Parallel and Distributed Algorithrms in TuSoW
  • Tuple centres in TuSoW
  • Uniform primitives in TuSoW
• Probability and Uncertainty
• Machine Learning and Software Engineering
  • AutoML
  • PMML, PFA
• Explainable AI
  • Symbolic knowledge extraction
  • Symbolic knowledge injection
  • Neural symbolic computation
• Planning
• Blockchain and Logic Contracts

MAS programming and simulation

Making programming frameworks simulable

MakeAgentSpeak(L) systems simulable through discrete event simulators:

• Make Jason-based systems simulable over Alchemist

Designing a simulable framework for agent programming

• Design and prototyping a simulable framework for behavioural (JADE-like) agent programming as a Kotlin DSL

• Design and prototyping of an AgentSpeak(L) implementation as a Kotlin DSL, in TuSoW
  • done by Marco Galassi

tuProlog in Kotlin (2P-Kt)

General references

• Siboni, Enrico. "2p-Kt: A Kotlin-based, Multi-Platform Framework for Symbolic AI"
• 2P-Kt: A Logic-Based Ecosystem for Symbolic AI
• 2P-Kt Repository
• 2P-Kt Homepage
• 2P-Kt Issues

Clauses storage

• Design and prototyping of efficient data structures for clause storaging, optimised for either retrieval and modification of clauses
  • done by Manuel Bonarrigo

• Design and prototyping of storage layers backed by DBMS technologies (1 project per technology)
  • E.g. Neo4J
  • E.g. Cassandra
  • E.g. MongoDB
  • E.g. PostgreSQL

(Bechmarks should be defined for each implementation)

Support for other platforms

References

• Kotlin Docs. "Multiplatform Programming"
• Kotlin Docs. "Building Multiplatform Projects with Gradle"
• Kotlin Docs. "Platform-Specific Declarations"
• Caldara, Mariano. "Gradle, Kotlin e lo Sviluppo di un’Applicazione Multipiattaforma" (Italian)

JS-Browser support

• Make 2P-Kt compilable and testable over JS via the new Kotlin/JS IR transpiler

Native support

• Make 2P-Kt compilable and testable over Native Platforms (Win, Linux, MacOS), through Kotlin/Native compiler

Python support

General references:

• 2ppy: the Python-ported version of 2P-Kt
• SciKit-learn

Projects:

• Write tests and benchmarks for 2ppy
• Bridge LP and ML by making 2ppy and SciKit-learn interoperable
  • related works: https://apice.unibo.it/xwiki/bin/view/Publications/LogicApi4MlCilc2022

.NET support

• Make 2P-Kt interoperable with .NET (ad means should be studied)
  • cf. IKVM

Design and implementation of libraries

• Complete support for Standard library
  • some prior work is available (cf. module solve of 2P-Kt)

• Design, and prototype the Standard IO library
  • some prior work is available (cf. module io-lib of 2P-Kt)

• Design, and prototype a novel OO library
  • some prior work is available (cf. module oop-lib of 2P-Kt)

• Design, and prototype a list manipulation library

• Design, and prototype a set manipulation library

• Design, and prototype a DFG manipulation library
  • some prior work is available (cf. old tuProlog-Java codebase)

• Propose, design, and prototype your own library

Design and implementation of tools/features

Language-oriented features

• Design, and prototype integration of 2P-Kt with the IntelliJ IDE
• Design, and prototype integration of 2P-Kt with the Eclipse IDE
• Design, and prototype integration of 2P-Kt with the Atom IDE
• Design, and prototype integration of 2P-Kt with the Visual Studio Code IDE

Utility features or optimizations

• Design, and prototype a novel Web-based IDE for 2P-Kt
• Design, and prototype an extension for the 2P-Kt solver supporting tail-recursion optimisation
• Design, and prototype a multi-platform module for 2P-Kt supporting JSON/YAML (de)serialization
• Design, and prototype a Web Service for accessing 2P-Kt facilities remotely

Tabled Prolog

• SLR on Tableb tesolution in Prolog
  • theoretical background
  • main approaches (+ similarities and differences)
  • main technologies (+ comparisons)

• Design, and prototype an extension for the 2P-Kt solver supporting tabled resolution

Labelled Variables in Logic Programming (LVLP)

References

• Calegari, Roberta. "Extending Logic Programming with Labelled Variables: Model and Semantics"

Projects

• Extend 2P-Kt to support LVLP

Concurrent Resolution

• SLR on concurrent resolution in Prolog
  • done by Cerami and Giordano

• Design, and prototype an extension for the 2P-Kt ecosystem supporting OR-concurrent resolution
  • done by Giordano

Logic Programming, and Automatic Reasoning

References:

• 'Deduction' vs. 'Induction' vs. 'Abduction'
• Riguzzi, Fabrizio. "Extension of Logic Programming as Representation Languages for Machine Learning"

Inductive Logic Programming (ILP)

• SLR on Inductive Logic Programming
  • theoretical background
  • main approaches (+ similarities and differences)
  • main technologies (+ comparisons)

• Design, and prototype an implementation for the resolution inversion approach
  • Consider integration in 2P-Kt

• Design, and prototype an implementation for the "construction of relative least general generalisations" approach
  • Consider integration in 2P-Kt

• Design, and prototype an implementation for the "inverting entailment" approach
  • Consider integration in 2P-Kt

Abductive Logic Program

• SLR on Abduction in Logic Programming
  • theoretical background
  • main approaches (+ similarities and differences)
  • main technologies (+ comparisons)

• Design and implementation of a 2P-Kt library for Abduction
  • possibly based on Silvio Disanti's Prolog library

Answer Set Programming (ASP)

• SLR on Answer Set Programming in Logic Programming
  • theoretical background
  • main approaches (+ similarities and differences)
  • main technologies (+ comparisons)

• Design and implementation of a 2P-Kt library for ASP

Constraint Logic Programming (CLP)

• SLR on Constraint Logic Programming
  • theoretical background
  • main approaches (+ similarities and differences)
  • main technologies (+ comparisons)

• Design and implementation of a 2P-Kt library for CLP (possibly wrapping some pre-existing CP tool)

Constraint Handling Rules (CHR)

• SLR on Constraint Handling Rules
  • theoretical background
  • main approaches (+ similarities and differences)
  • main technologies (+ comparisons)

• Design and implementation of a 2P-Kt library for CHR

Defeasible Reasoning (DR)

• SLR on Defeasible Resoning
  • theoretical background
  • main approaches (+ similarities and differences)
  • main technologies (+ comparisons)

Argumentation

• SLR on argumentation algorithms
  • theoretical background
  • main approaches (+ similarities and differences)
  • main technologies (+ comparisons)

• Design, and prototype an argumentation algorithm of choice

• Arg-2P from meta-solver to solver in 2P-Kt

(Arg-2P è un meta-interprete che poggia su 2P e data una teoria costruisce grafo di argomentazione e labelling associato)

• Arg-2P implement other argumentation semantics (other than the grounded one)

Modularity in Argumentation

• SLR on Modularity in Argumentation
  • theoretical background
  • main approaches (+ similarities and differences)
  • main technologies (+ comparisons)
• Design, and prototype a technological reification for the "Modularity in Argumentation" theory

Dialogical Argumentation

• SLR on dialogical argumentation protocols
  • theoretical background
  • main approaches (+ similarities and differences)
  • main technologies (+ comparisons)
• Design, and prototype an argumentation protocol of choice in Jason

Coordination

Referecens:

• TuSoW Repository
• TuCSoN Repository
• Omicini A., Denti E. "From Tuple Spaces to Tuple Centres"
• Mariani S., Omicini A. "Coordination Mechanisms for the Modelling and Simulation of Stochastic Systems: The Case of Uniform Primitives"

Parallel and Distributed Algorithrms in TuSoW

Projects:

• Design and experiment parallel/distributed algorithms in TuSoW, e.g.
  • stochastic gradient descent, as suggested in [Tootoonchian2018]

References:

• [Tootoonchian2018] Tootoonchian, A. and al., "Distributed Shared Memory for Machine Learning"

Tuple centres in TuSoW

• Extend TuSoW model and technology to support Tuple Centres
  • done by ???

Uniform primitives in TuSoW

• Extend TuSoW model and technology to support Uniform Primitives

Probability and Uncertainty

• Design, and prototype a JVM-based framework for filtering problems
  • may support either (Extended) Kalman Filters or Particle Filters, or both

• Design, and prototype a JVM-based framework simulating systems based on distributed particle filtering
  • possibly based on Alchemist

Machine Learning and Software Engineering

References:

• Ciatto, G. "Machine Learning:  Classification and Regression (From the Software Engineer Perspective)"
• Feurer, M. et Al. "Efficient and Robust Automated Machine Learning "

AutoML

• SLR on the state of the art in AutoML
  • theoretical background
  • main approaches (+ similarities and differences)
  • main technologies (+ comparisons)

PMML, PFA

• SLR on the state of the art of predictive model interchange formats
  • theoretical background
  • main approaches (+ similarities and differences)
  • main technologies (+ comparisons)

Explainable AI

Symbolic knowledge extraction

Activities

• SLR on the symbolic knowledge extraction techniques
  • theoretical background
  • main approaches (+ similarities and differences)
  • main technologies (+ comparisons)
• Design, prototype, and assess a Symbolic knowledge extraction algorithms from the literature 
• Explore the exploitation of abductive reasoning for explaining ML-trained predictors by reproducing the study in [Ignatiev2018]

References

[Ignatiev2018] Alexey Ignatiev, Nina Narodytska, Joao Marques-Silva. "Abduction-Based Explanations for Machine Learning Models"

Symbolic knowledge injection

• SLR on the symbolic knowledge injection techniques
  • theoretical background
  • main approaches (+ similarities and differences)
  • main technologies (+ comparisons)

• Design, prototype, and assess a Symbolic knowledge injection approach from the literature 

Neural symbolic computation

• TODO

Planning

• SLR on the state of the art of Planning
  • theoretical background
  • main approaches (+ similarities and differences)
  • main technologies (+ comparisons)
• Design, and prototype a planning library leveraging on some approach of choice from the literature 

Blockchain and Logic Contracts

• TODO