Neil Yorke-Smith is a Computer Scientist at SRI's Artificial Intelligence Center. His research interests include temporal reasoning, planning and scheduling, preferences, advisable agents, intelligent user interfaces, and constraint programming, and their real-world applications. He received his Ph.D. from Imperial College London in 2004 with thesis research focused on handling uncertainty in constraint-based reasoning.

Selected publications by year; a full description is given by research theme.

2008

• Yorke-Smith, N. and Gervet, C. Certainty Closure: Reliable Constraint Reasoning with Uncertain Data. ACM Transactions on Computational Logic (to appear).  Abstract | Preprint PDF
   
• Peintner, B.; Viappiani, P.; and Yorke-Smith, N. Preferences in Interactive Systems: Technical challenges and case studies. AI Magazine 29(4), Winter 2008 (to appear).  ©2008 AAAI
  Surveys the role preferences have in Interactive Artificial Intelligence systems in both reasoning and interaction with the user.
   
• Berry, P.; Donneau-Golencer, T.; Duong, K.; Gervasio, M.; Peintner, B.; and Yorke-Smith, N. Emma: An Event Management Assistant. ICAPS'08 System Demonstrations, Sydney, Australia, September 2008 (to appear).
  Demonstration of an adaptive personalized calendar management agent.
   
• Meuleau, N.; Morris, R. A.; and Yorke-Smith, N. A Variable Elimination Approach for Optimal Scheduling with Linear Preferences. CP/ICAPS'08 Joint Workshop on Constraint Satisfaction Techniques for Planning and Scheduling Problems, Sydney, Australia, September 2008 (to appear).
  Develops a tractable elimination function to apply Bucket Elimination to solve temporal CSPs with piecewise linear constraints on temporal preferences over continuous domains.
   
• Bui, H. H.; Tyson, M.; and Yorke-Smith, N. Efficient Message Passing and Propagation of Simple Temporal Constraints: Results on Semi-Structured Networks. CP/ICAPS'08 Joint Workshop on Constraint Satisfaction Techniques for Planning and Scheduling Problems, Sydney, Australia, September 2008 (to appear).
  Reports experimental results on belief propagation for solving semi-structured Simple Temporal Problems over continuous domains.
   
• Bui, H. H.; Cesari, F.; Elenius, D.; House, N.; Morley, D.; Myers, K. M.; Natarajan, S.; Saadati, S.; Yeh, E.; and Yorke-Smith, N. CALO Workflow Recognition and Proactive Assistance. AAAI-08 AI Video Competition, Chicago, IL, July 2008.   Abstract | AVI (93M)
  Short video shows how a CALO agent provides potentially helpful suggestions according to your work context, including your current desktop activity.
   
• Berry, P.; Bulka, B.; Peintner, B.; Roberts, M.; and Yorke-Smith, N. Neptune: A Mixed-Initiative Environment for Planning and Scheduling. Proceedings of FLAIRS'08, Coconut Grove, FL, May 2008.   Abstract | PDF
  Describes the design of a mixed-initiative system for integrated hierarchical planning and scheduling, Neptune.
   
• Bui, H. H.; Cesari, F.; Elenius, D.; Morley, D.; Natarajan, S.; Saadati, S.; Yeh, E.; and Yorke-Smith, N. A Context-Aware Personal Desktop Assistant. Proceedings of AAMAS'08 Demonstration Track, Estoril, Portugal, May 2008.   Abstract | PDF   ©2008 IFAAMAS
  Demonstration of a personal assistant agent that provides potentially helpful suggestions according to your work context, including your current desktop activity.
   
• Thangarajah, J.; Harland, J.; Morley, D.; and Yorke-Smith, N. Suspending and Resuming Tasks in Intelligent Agents. Proceedings of AAMAS'08, Estoril, Portugal, May 2008.   Abstract | PDF   ©2008 IFAAMAS
  Develops a principled approach to suspending and resume tasks in a BDI-based agent, formalized in the CAN agent language.
   
• Weber, J. S. and Yorke-Smith, N. Time Management with Adaptive Reminders: Two Studies and Their Design Implications. Working notes of CHI'08 Workshop: Usable Artificial Intelligence, Florence, Italy, April 2008.  Abstract | PDF  
  Reports initial findings from a pair of user studies into how people manage their time, and how they could benefit from an adaptive reminder system.

2007

• Peintner, B.; Venable, K. B.; and Yorke-Smith, N. Strong Controllability of Disjunctive Temporal Problems with Uncertainty. Proceedings of CP'07, Providence, RI, September 2007.  Abstract | PDF   ©2007 Springer-Verlag
  Refines the semantics of DTPU constraints and gives the first algorithm to determine Strong Controllability of a DTPU.
   
• Thangarajah, J.; Harland, J.; and Yorke-Smith, N. A Soft COP Model for Goal Deliberation in a BDI Agent. Proceedings of CP'07 Workshop on Constraint Modelling and Reformulation, Providence, RI, September 2007.  Abstract | PDF
  Models the BDI goal deliberation process as a soft Constraint Optimization Problem.
   
• Berry, P.; Moffitt, M. D.; Peintner, B.; and Yorke-Smith, N. The Design of a User-Centric Scheduling System for Multi-Faceted Real-World Problems. Proceedings of ICAPS'07 Workshop on Moving Planning and Scheduling Systems into the Real World, Providence, RI, September 2007.   Abstract | PDF
  Describes the design of a mixed-initiative scheduling system, Pisces.
   
• Bui, H. H.; Tyson, M.; and Yorke-Smith, N. Efficient Message Passing and Propagation of Simple Temporal Constraints. Proceedings of AAAI 2007 Workshop on Spatial and Temporal Reasoning, Vancouver, Canada, July 2007.   Abstract | PDF  
  Investigates belief propagation for solving structured Simple Temporal Problems over continuous domains.
   
• Berry, P.; Gervasio, M.; Peintner, B.; and Yorke-Smith, N. A Preference Model for Over-Constrained Meeting Requests. Proceedings of AAAI 2007 Workshop on Preference Handling for Artificial Intelligence, Vancouver, Canada, July 2007.   Abstract | PDF  
  Presents a MAUT model for user meeting scheduling preferences that balances expressiveness with amenability for elicitation, reasoning, and learning.
   
• Thangarajah, J.; Harland, J.; Morley, D.; and Yorke-Smith, N. Aborting Tasks in BDI Agents. Proceedings of AAMAS'07, Honolulu, HI, May 2007.   Abstract | PDF   ©2007 ACM
  Presents extensions to the CAN agent language to enable a BDI-based agent to reason over goal and plan aborts and fails in a unified way.
   
• Myers, K. and Yorke-Smith, N. Proactive Behavior of a Personal Assistive Agent. Proceedings of AAMAS'07 Workshop on Metareasoning in Agent-Based Systems, Honolulu, HI, May 2007.   Abstract | PDF  
  Presents a BDI-based agent cognition model designed to support proactive assistance, employing a meta-level layer to identify potentially helpful actions and determine when it is appropriate to perform them
   
• Yorke-Smith, N. (ed). Interaction Challenges for Intelligent Assistants: Papers from the AAAI Spring Symposium. AAAI Technical Report SS-07-04, March 2007. AAAI Press, Menlo Park, CA.   Abstract  
  The symposium asked: what are most useful paradigms, methodologies, and implementations for human interaction with intelligent artificial assistants?
   
• Berry, P.; Peintner, B.; and Yorke-Smith, N. Bringing the User Back into Scheduling: Two Case Studies of Interaction with Intelligent Scheduling Assistants. Proceedings of AAAI 2007 Spring Symposium on Interaction Challenges for Intelligent Assistants, Stanford, CA, March 2007.   Abstract | PDF   ©2007 AAAI
  Speaks for the importance of the user in two scheduling applications.
   
• Myers, K. and Yorke-Smith, N. Proactivity in an Intentionally Helpful Personal Assistive Agent. Proceedings of AAAI 2007 Spring Symposium on Intentions in Intelligent Systems, Stanford, CA, March 2007.   Abstract | PDF   ©2007 AAAI
  Argues that personal assistive agents should be able to reason about acting proactively, with care, to help their user.
   
• Berry, P.; Gervasio, M.; Peintner, B.; and Yorke-Smith, N. Balancing the Needs of Personalization and Reasoning in a User-Centric Scheduling Assistant. Technical Note 561, Artificial Intelligence Center, SRI International, February 2007.   Abstract | PDF  

2006

• Rossi, F.; Venable, K. B.; and Yorke-Smith, N. Uncertainty in Soft Temporal Constraint Problems: A General Framework and Controllability Algorithms for the Fuzzy Case. Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research 27, 617-674, December 2006.  Abstract | PDF
  Presents a formalism where quantitative temporal constraints with both preferences and uncertainty can be defined, showing how three classical notions of controllability (strong, weak, and dynamic), which have been developed for uncertain temporal problems, can be generalized to handle preferences as well.
   
• Moffitt, M. D.; Peintner, B.; and Yorke-Smith, N. Multi-Criteria Optimization of Temporal Preferences. Proceedings of CP'06 Workshop on Preferences and Soft Constraints, Nantes, France, September 2006.   Abstract | PDF  
  Premiers an extended framework for disjunctive temporal reasoning in the presence of multiple optimization criteria, and two initial algorithms to derive favoured solutions.
   
• Morley, D.; Myers, K.; and Yorke-Smith, N. Continuous Refinement of Agent Resource Estimates. Proceedings of AAMAS'06, Hakodate, Japan, May 2006.   Abstract | PDF   ©2006 ACM
  Allows a BDI-based agent to estimate resource consumption of tasks prior to their adoption for execution, and refine those estimates as execution proceeds.
   
• Berry, P.; Conley, K.; Gervasio, M.; Peintner, B.; Uribe, T.; and Yorke-Smith, N. Deploying a Personalized Time Management Agent. Proceedings of AAMAS'06 Industrial Track, Hakodate, Japan, May 2006.   Abstract | PDF   ©2006 ACM
  Reports on the ongoing practical experience designing, implementing, and deploying PTIME, a personalized agent for time management and meeting scheduling in an open, multi-agent environment.
   
• Berry, P.; Albright, C.; Bowring, E.; Conley, K.; Nitz, K.; Pearce, J.; Peintner, P.; Saadati, S.; Tambe, M.; Uribe, T.; and Yorke-Smith, N. Conflict Negotiation Among Personal Calendar Agents. Proceedings of AAMAS'06 Demonstration Track, Hakodate, Japan, May 2006.   Abstract | PDF   ©2006 ACM
  Demonstration of distributed conflict resolution in the context of personalized meeting scheduling.
   
• Berry, P.; Gervasio, M.; Peintner, B.; Uribe, T.; and Yorke-Smith, N. Multi-Criteria Evaluation in User-Centric Distributed Scheduling Agents. Proceedings of AAAI 2006 Spring Symposium on Distributed Plan and Schedule Management, Stanford, CA, March 2006.  Abstract | PDF   ©2006 AAAI
  Positions a distributed scheduling task for personalised calendaring as the co-operation of selfish scheduling agents.

2005

• Myers, K. and Yorke-Smith, N. A Cognitive Framework for Delegation to an Assistive User Agent. Proceedings of AAAI 2005 Fall Symposium on Mixed-Initiative Problem Solving Assistants, Arlington, VA, November 2005.  Abstract | PDF   ©2005 AAAI
  Presents a BDI-based framework for a cognitive agent that acts as an assistant to a human user by perfoming tasks on her behalf.
   
• Yorke-Smith, N. and Gervet, C. Closures of Uncertain Constraint Satisfaction Problems. Proceedings of CP'05 Workshop on Quantification in Constraint Programming, Sitges, Spain, October 2005.  Abstract | PDF
  Investigates the characteristics of a relevant solution to an uncertain CSP, according to the nature of the data uncertainty and the outcome sought in the application.
   
• Yorke-Smith, N. and Gervet, C. Uncertain Constraint Optimisation Problems. Proceedings of CP'05 Workshop on Preferences and Soft Constraints, Sitges, Spain, October 2005.  Abstract | PDF
  Develops an extension of the uncertain CSP for optimisation problems with data incompleteness or errors.
   
• Berry, P.; Myers, K.; Uribe, T.; and Yorke-Smith, N. Task Management under Change and Uncertainty: Constraint Solving Experience with the CALO Project. Proceedings of CP'05 Workshop on Constraint Solving under Change and Uncertainty, Sitges, Spain, October 2005.  Abstract | PDF
  Puts forward the challenges to constraint programming, not restricted to change and uncertainty, that arise in task management in the CALO intelligent user assistant project.
   
• Morris, R. A.; Dungan, J.; Edgington, W.; Williams, J.; Carlson, C.; Fleming, D.; Wood, T.; and Yorke-Smith, N. Coordinated Science Campaign Scheduling for Sensor Webs. Proceedings of i-SAIRAS'05, Munchen, Germany, September 2005.  Abstract | PDF
  Describes the DESOPS software architecture for coordinated planning, scheduling and execution of Earth-orbiting science campaigns.
   
• Venable, K. B. and Yorke-Smith, N. Disjunctive Temporal Planning with Uncertainty. Proceedings of IJCAI'05, Edinburgh, UK, August 2005.  Abstract | PDF   ©2005 IJCAI
  Introduces the semantics of the DTPU model: disjunctive temporal constraints with controllable and uncontrollable time-points.
   
• Yorke-Smith, N. Exploiting the Structure of Hierarchical Plans in Temporal Constraint Propagation. Proceedings of AAAI'05, Pittsburgh, PA, July 2005.  Abstract | PDF  ©2005 AAAI
  Describes the sibling-restricted propagation algorithm for HTN temporal inference and its strong performance on real-world plans.
   
• Guettier, C. and Yorke-Smith, N. Enhancing the Anytime Behaviour of Mixed CSP-Based Planning. Proceedings of ICAPS'05 Workshop on Planning under Uncertainty for Autonomous Systems, Monterey, CA, June 2005.  Abstract | PDF
  Investigates the anytime performance of solving a full observability mixed CSP. Proposes algorithmic enhancements to improve the anytime behaviour w.r.t. plan completeness and plan executability.
   
• Berry, P.; Gervasio, M.; Uribe, T.; and Yorke-Smith, N. Mixed-Initiative Issues for a Personalized Time Management Assistant. Proceedings of ICAPS'05 Workshop on Mixed-Initiative Planning And Scheduling, Monterey, CA, June 2005.  Abstract | PDF
  Discusses the collaborative human/agent decision process in the PTIME project.
   
• Morris, R. A.; Morris, P.; Khatib, L.; and Yorke-Smith, N. Temporal Planning with Preferences and Probabilities. Proceedings of ICAPS'05 Workshop on Constraint Programming for Planning and Scheduling, Monterey, CA, June 2005.  Abstract | PDF
  Introduces the Simple Temporal Problem with Preferences and Probabilities, and outlines two decision problems with STP3s for planning.

2004

• Rossi, F.; Venable, K. B.; and Yorke-Smith, N. Controllability of Soft Temporal Constraint Problems. Proceedings of CP'04, Toronto, Canada, September 2004.  Abstract | PDF  ©2004 Springer-Verlag
  Shows how temporal constraint networks with both preferences and uncertainty can be dynamically controlled.
   
• Yorke-Smith, N. and Gervet, C. Tight and Tractable Reformulations for Uncertain CSPs. Proceedings of CP'04 Workshop on Modelling and Reformulating Constraint Satisfaction Problems, Toronto, Canada, September 2004.  Abstract | PDF
  Defines two sufficient conditions for constraint classes that guarantee a tight and tractable reformulation of a uncertain CSP, to derive its full closure.
   
• Petrie, K. E.; Smith, B. M.; and Yorke-Smith, N. Dynamic Symmetry Breaking in Constraint Programming and Linear Programming Hybrids. Proceedings of STAIRS'04, Valencia, Spain, August 2004.  Abstract | PDF
  Integrates symmetry breaking during search with LP-CP hybrids. Case study on the maximum density still life problem.
   
• Yorke-Smith, N. Reliable Constraint Reasoning with Uncertain Data. PhD thesis, IC-Parc, Imperial College London, June 2004.  Abstract
  A framework and case studies for reliably modelling and solving constraint problems with incomplete and erroneous data.

2003

• Yorke-Smith, N. and Guettier, C. Towards Automatic Robust Planning for the Discrete Commanding of Aerospace Equipment. Proceedings of 2003 IEEE International Symposium on Intelligent Control, Houston, TX, October 2003.  Abstract | PDF  ©2003 IEEE
  Applies reasoning about data uncertainty to constraint-based control of aerospace equipment.
   
• Yorke-Smith, N. and Gervet, C. Certainty Closure: A Framework for Reliable Constraint Reasoning with Uncertainty. Proceedings of CP'03, Kinsale, Ireland, September 2003.  Abstract | PDF  ©2003 Springer-Verlag
  Defines a framework for data uncertainty in constraint programming, together with practical resolution forms. Illustrates the framework with two diverse case studies.
   
• Yorke-Smith, N.; Venable, K. B.; and Rossi, F. Temporal Reasoning with Preferences and Uncertainty. Proceedings of IJCAI'03, Acapulco, Mexico, August 2003.   Abstract | PDF  ©2003 IJCAI
  Introduces a more expressive model for simple temporal problems, combining existing models for preference and for contingency in a new formalism.

2002

• Riera, D. and Yorke-Smith, N. An Improved Hybrid Model for the Generic Hoist Scheduling Problem. Annals of Operations Research 115, 173-191, September 2002.  Abstract | PDF
  Builds on an existing hybrid CP-LP model for multi-hoist, multi-track hoist scheduling problems, to yield more robust computational results without sacrificing expressiveness.
   
• Yorke-Smith, N. and Gervet, C. On Constraint Problems with Incomplete or Erroneous Data. Proceedings of CP'02, Ithaca, NY, September 2002.  Abstract | PDF  ©2002 Springer-Verlag
  Summarises the need to tackle data uncertainty in CP, and presents a case study of an enclosure approach in computer networking.

2001

• Yorke-Smith, N. and Gervet, C. Data Uncertainty in Constraint Programming: A Non-Probabilistic Approach. Proceedings of AAAI 2001 Fall Symposium on Using Uncertainty within Computation, Cape Cod, MA, November 2001.  Abstract | PDF
  Demonstrates why non-probabilistic reasoning about data uncertainty is suitable for a diagnosis problem in computer networking.

Full curriculum vitae available on request.

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