Artificial Intelligence (AI) Assignment Questions
UNIT I : Introduction: AI problems, foundation of AI and history of AI intelligent agents:
Agents and Environments, the concept of rationality, the nature of environments, structure
of agents, problem solving agents, problem formulation.
Short Answer Questions :
1. List two fundamental problems that AI aims to solve.
2. Briefly explain the Turing Test and its significance in AI history.
3. What is the main idea behind the "physical symbol system hypothesis"?
4. Which event is often considered the birth of Artificial Intelligence as a field?
5. What is the role of a "percept" in an intelligent agent system?
6. Define "performance measure" in the context of an AI agent.
7. What does it mean for an agent to be "omniscient"?
8. Give an example of a simple agent and its environment.
9. Differentiate between a "discrete" and a "continuous" environment.
10. What is an "episodic" environment?
11. What is the primary difference between a simple reflex agent and a model-based reflex agent?
12. Briefly explain the role of a "utility function" in a utility-based agent.
13. List the four components that typically define a problem for an AI agent.
14. What is the purpose of the "transition model" in problem formulation?
15. In the context of problem-solving, what does "goal formulation" involve?
16. Give one example of a real-world problem that can be framed as a search problem for an AI agent.
Long Answer Questions :
1. Discuss two distinct types of AI problems, providing a brief example for each to illustrate their
nature.
2. Explain the contributions of two different historical figures or schools of thought to the
foundational concepts of Artificial Intelligence.
3. Outline the key periods in the history of AI, highlighting a significant development or challenge
associated with each period.
4. Describe the fundamental relationship between an agent and its environment, explaining how the
agent perceives and acts within it.
5. Define "rationality" in the context of an AI agent. Explain why perfect rationality is often
unachievable and what "bounded rationality" refers to.
6. An intelligent agent receives percepts from its environment and performs actions. Discuss how a
carefully chosen "performance measure" guides the behavior of a rational agent.
7. Explain three different properties that characterize the nature of an environment (e.g., observable,
deterministic, static). Provide a brief example for each property.
8. Compare and contrast the structure of a simple reflex agent with that of a model-based reflex
agent, highlighting the advantages of the latter.
9. Describe the key components and working principle of a goal-based agent. How does it differ from
a simple reflex agent in its decision-making process?
10. Detail the typical components that define a problem for a problem-solving agent. Explain the
significance of each component.
11. Describe the process of "problem formulation" for an AI agent. Why is accurate problem
formulation crucial for effective problem solving?
12. Consider a simplified "traveling salesman problem." Explain how you would formulate this as a
problem for an AI problem-solving agent, specifying the states, initial state, goal test, and actions.
UNIT II : Searching- Searching for solutions, uniformed search strategies Breadth first
search, depth First Search. Search with partial information (Heuristic search) Hill climbing.
A∗ AO∗ Algorithms, Problem reduction, Game Playing Adversial search, Games, mini-
max algorithm, optimal decisions in multiplayer games, Problem in Game playing. Alpha-
Beta pruning. Evaluation functions.
Short Answer Questions :
1. What is the fundamental difference between uniformed and informed search strategies?
2. How does Breadth-First Search (BFS) guarantee finding the optimal solution in a simple graph?
3. In what scenarios is Depth-First Search (DFS) more memory-efficient than BFS?
4. Define "partial information" in the context of heuristic search.
5. What is the main goal of the Hill Climbing algorithm, and what is its primary drawback?
6. How does the A* algorithm balance exploration and exploitation?
7. What is the key difference between the A* and AO* algorithms?
8. Explain the concept of "problem reduction."
9. What is an "adversarial search" in the context of game playing?
10. Define the term "game tree" and its role in game-playing algorithms.
11. What is the core principle of the mini-max algorithm?
12. Why is the mini-max algorithm alone often impractical for complex games?
13. How does the Alpha-Beta Pruning algorithm improve upon mini-max?
14. What are "alpha" and "beta" values in the Alpha-Beta Pruning algorithm?
15. What is an "evaluation function" in the context of game playing, and what is its purpose?
16. Give an example of a problem encountered in game playing that search algorithms must address.
Long Answer Questions :
1. Compare and contrast Breadth-First Search and Depth-First Search. Discuss their time and space
complexity, and provide a scenario where each would be the most suitable search strategy.
2. Explain the concept of heuristic search. Describe the Hill Climbing algorithm in detail, outlining its
steps, advantages, and limitations with a suitable example.
3. Describe the A* algorithm. Explain how it uses a heuristic function and a cost function to find the
optimal path. Provide a step-by-step example of its application.
4. Explain the working of the AO* algorithm. How is it different from A*, and in what types of
problems is it most useful?
5. What is adversarial search? Discuss the mini-max algorithm in detail, explaining how it is used to
determine the optimal move in a two-player game. Use a small example to illustrate the process.
6. Explain the concept of Alpha-Beta Pruning. Describe how it works to optimize the mini-max search.
Provide a step-by-step example of a game tree before and after pruning.
7. Discuss the different types of problems encountered in game playing, such as complexity, partial
observability, and chance.
8. How are optimal decisions made in multiplayer games? Explain the challenges and potential
modifications to the mini-max algorithm to handle games with more than two players.
9. Describe the role and design of an evaluation function in game-playing AI. How does a good
evaluation function contribute to the effectiveness of a search algorithm like mini-max?
10. What is problem reduction, and how is it used to solve complex problems in Artificial Intelligence?
Provide an example of a problem that can be solved using this approach.
11. Compare and contrast uniform and informed search strategies. Give an example of a uniform and an
informed search strategy for a common problem like the 8-puzzle.
12. Explain the different types of problems that search algorithms can face in game playing, such as a
large search space, perfect information vs. partial information, and the role of chance.
