An assumption-based TMS

摘要

This paper presents a new view of problem solving motivated by a new kind of truth maintenance system. Unlike previous truth maintenance systems which were based on manipulating justifications, this truth maintenance system is, in addition, based on manipulating assumption sets. As a consequence it is possible to work effectively and efficiently with inconsistent information, context switching is free, and most backtracking (and all retraction) is avoided. These capabilities motivate a different kind of problem-solving architecture in which multiple potential solutions are explored simultaneously. This architecture is particularly well-suited for tasks where a reasonable fraction of the potential solutions must be explored.