Description
Question 1 (15 points)
Consider the following Bayes net (we leave out the Conditional Probability Tables).
A B
C
D
E
F
H G
J
For each of the questions below, state whether the independence relation holds. Give a justification
for your answer using the d-separation criterion: if d-separation holds, state why each undirected
path is blocked; if it does not hold, describe one undirected path which is unblocked. (Note: there
are no more than two undirected paths between any pair of nodes).
1. A and B are independent
2. A and B are independent given D
3. A and E are independent
4. A and E are independent given C
5. A and E are independent given B
6. A and E are independent given B and C
7. A and E are independent given D
8. A and E are independent given F
9. F and H are independent
10. J and E are independent
11. J and E are independent given G
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CS 486/686: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence Assignment 3
12. J and E are independent given A
13. G and A are independent
14. G and A are independent given C
15. G and A are independent given C and D
Question 2. Variable Elimination (0 points)
This part of the assignment is worth zero points. However, your implementation will be used
Question 3. If you do the implementation then upload it with your assignment.
Implement the variable elimination algorithm by coding the following four functions in the
programming language of your choice.
a. restrictedFactor=restrict(factor, variable, value): a function that restricts a variable to some
value in a given factor
b. productFactor = multiply(factor1, factor2): a function that multiplies two factors
c. resultFactor = sumout(factor, variable): a function that sums out a variable given a factor
d. resultFactor = inference(factorList, queryVariables, orderedListOfHiddenVariables, evidenceList): a function that computes Pr(queryVariable | evidenceList) by variable elimination. This function should restrict the factors in factorList according to the evidence in
evidenceList. Next, it should sum out the hidden variables from the product of the factors in
factorList. The variables should be summed out in the order given in orderedListOfHiddenVariables. Finally, the answer should be normalized. Note that you might want to implement
an additional function normalize(factor) to help you do this.
Here are some useful tips for this part of the assignment.
Tip Factors are essentially multi-dimensional arrays. Therefore, you may want to use this data
structure. However, you are free to use any data structure that you want.
Tip Test each function individually using the simple examples we covered in class. Debugging
the entire variable elimination algorithm at once can be tricky.
Question 3 Bayes Nets (80 points)
Your dog Fido has been howling for the last three hours and you want to decide whether or not to
take him to the vet, or just put in earplugs and go back to sleep. You have the following information
available to you:
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CS 486/686: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence Assignment 3
• You know that Fido often howls if he is genuinely sick. However, he is a healthy dog and is
only sick 5% of the time. If Fido is really sick he probably has not eaten much of his dinner
and has food left in his bowl. In the past you have observed that when Fido is sick then 60%
of the time he does not eat. However, about 10% of the time, when Fido is healthy he still
does not eat his dinner.
• You also know that Fido often howls is there is a full moon or the neighbour’s dog howls.
The neighbour’s dog sometimes howls at the full moon and sometimes howls when your
neighbour is away. However, the neighbour’s dog is never affected by Fido’s howls. You
know that (since you live on Earth) there is a full moon once out of every twenty-eight days.
You have observed that your neighbour travels three days out of every ten. You also know
that if there is no full moon and the neighbour is at home then the dog never howls, but if
there is no full moon and the neighbour is away then the dog howls with probability 0.5. If
there is a full moon then the dog is more likely to howl; if the neighbour is at home then it
howls with probability 0.4, but if the neighbour is also away then the probability of howling
increases to 0.8.
• Finally, you know that if all the triggers are there (i.e. full moon, howling neighbour’s dog,
Fido sick) then Fido will howl with probability 0.99, but if none of the triggers are there,
then Fido will not howl. If Fido is sick then he is likely to howl. In particular, if he is sick
(but there are no other triggers) then Fido will howl with probability 0.5. If Fido is sick and
there is another trigger then he is even more likely to howl – if the neighbour’s dog is also
howling then Fido will howl 3
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’s of the time, while if there is a full moon then Fido howls
90% of the time. If Fido is not sick then he is less likely to howl. The full moon and the
neighbour’s dog will only cause him to howl with probability 0.65, while if there is only a
full moon then he will howl 40% of the time, and if there is no full moon, but the neighbour’s
dog is making noise, then he howl’s with probability 0.2.
1. (32 points) Given the information about Fido, construct a Bayes Network. Show the graph
and the conditional probability tables. The network should encode all the information stated
above. It should contain six nodes corresponding to the following binary random variables:
• FH – Fido howls
• FS – Fido is sick
• FB – there is food left in Fido’s food bowl
• FM – there is a full moom
• NA – the neighbour is away
• NDG – the neighbour’s dog howls
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CS 486/686: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence Assignment 3
The edges in your Bayes Network should accurately capture the probabilistic dependencies
between these variables.
For the next set of questions indicate what queries (i.e. Pr(vars | evidence)) you used to
compute the probability. Whether you answer the queries by hand or by using your code,
provide a printout of the factors computed at each step of variable elimination. If you think
that some of the probabilities will not change, then you do not have to redo the calculations,
but you do need to provide an explanation.
2. (12 points) What is the prior probability that Fido will howl (i.e. Pr(FH))?
3. (12 points) You can hear Fido howling, and you are concerned that he is sick. You look out
the window and see that the moon is full. What is probability that Fido is sick?
4. (12 points) You next walk to the kitchen to see if there is any food left in Fido’s bowl. You
note that the bowl is full – that is Fido has not eaten. How does your belief change about
Fido being sick now that you know there is a full moon and Fido has not eaten?
5. (12 points) Finally, you decide to call your neighbour to see if they are home or not. The
phone rings and rings so you conclude that your neighbour is away. Now, given this information, how does you belief about Fido being sick change?
Question 4 (30 pts)
S1, 0
S2, 0
S3, 0
S4, +10
S5, -10
a, 0.9
b, 0.9
d, 1 − pS
d, pR
d, 0.9 − pR
d
d
pS
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
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CS 486/686: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence Assignment 3
Consider the MDP shown in the above figure. There are five states (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5). The
reward in states S1, S2 and S3 is equal to 0, while the reward for state S4 is 10 and the reward for
state S5 is -10. In state S1 there are two possible actions a and b, while in all other states there is a
single action d. Each action is stochastic. With probability 0.1 the result of taking some action is a
self-transition (i.e. the agent remains in the same state) while with probability 0.9 the next state is
indicated in the diagram above. There are two exceptions:
• State S2 is a sticky state. It has probability of pS (the stickiness factor) of self-transition, and
probability of 1 − pS of transitioning to state S4.
• State S3 is a risky state. The probability of self-transition is 0.1. However, with probability
pR (the riskiness factor) the agent will move to state S5 while with probability 0.9 − pR the
agent will transition to state S4.
Assume that we are interested in total discounted reward and that the discount factor is γ =
0.95.
1. Set pS = 0.2. What is the value function and the optimal policy for this MDP if the risk
probability is pR = 0.01? What is the optimal value function and policy if the risk probability
is pR = 0.03? For what value of pR is the agent indifferent between taking action a in state
S1 or action b in state S1? (You can assume that the agent starts out in state S1 if you wish.)
2. Now increase the stickiness probability to pS = 0.6. Repeat the previous questions for
pR = 0.1 and pR = 0.2. Again, what is the indifference level for pR? That is, for what value
of pR is the agent now indifferent between taking action a and b in state S1?
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