Computational Context: The Value, Theory and Application of Context with AI

Context can be clear, uncertain or an illusion. Clear contexts: A father praising his child; a trip to the post office to buy stamps; a policewoman asking for identification. Uncertain contexts: A sneak attack; a surprise witness in a courtroom; a shout of "Fire! Fire!" Contexts as illusion: Humans fall prey to illusions that machines do not (Adelson’s checkerboard illusion versus a photometer). Determining context is not easy when disagreement exists, interpretations vary, or uncertainty reigns. Physicists like Einstein (relativity), Bekenstein (holographs) and Rovelli (universe) have written that reality is not what we commonly believe. Even outside of awareness, individuals act differently whether alone or in teams.

Can computational context with AI adapt to clear and uncertain contexts, to change over time, and to individuals, machines or robots as well as to teams? If a program automatically "knows" the context that improves performance or decisions, does it matter whether context is clear, uncertain or illusory? Written and edited by world class leaders from across the field of autonomous systems research, this volume carefully considers the computational systems being constructed to determine context for individual agents or teams, the challenges they face, and the advances they expect for the science of context.