He is conducting research into context and its influence on memory, reasoning and behavior. His other research interests include agents, natural language understanding, case-based reasoning, distributed artificial intelligence, semiotics and cognitive science.

Ph. D. Thesis

Dr. Francis' thesis committee was:

Dr. Ashwin Ram (computer science)

Dr. Janet Kolodner (computer science)

Dr. Kurt Eiselt (computer science)

• The IGOR Group Research in learning, case-based reasoning, natural language understanding, creativity, education, and cognitive science.
• The NLR group An interdisciplinary research group investigating natural language issues.
• Artificial Intelligence Group The College of Computing's Artificial Intelligence program.
• Cognitive Science Group The interdisciplinary Cognitive Science program at Georgia Tech.

• The Utility Problem
  The utility problem arises when knowledge learned to improve a problem solver's performance degrades it instead. Anthony is investigating methodologies for the study of the utility problem and has applied those methodologies to case-based reasoning and control-rule learning systems.
  • Francis, A.G. and Ram, A. (1995). A Comparative Utility Analysis of Case-Based Reasoning and Control-Rule Problem Solving. In ECML-95: Proceedings of the Eighth European Conference on Machine Learning.
  • Francis, A.G. and Ram, A. (1994). A Comparative Utility Analysis of Case-Based and Control-Rule Learning Systems. In AAAI-CBR-94: Workshop Notes on the AAAI-94 Workshop on Case-Based Reasoning..
  • Francis, A.G., & Ram, A. (1993). Computational Models of the Utility Problem and their Application to an Analysis of Case-Based Reasoning. In KCSL-93: Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Knowledge Compilation and Speedup Learning.
  • Francis, A.G., & Ram, A. (1993). The Utility Problem in Case-Based Reasoning. Abstracted in AAAI-CBR-93, the Proceedings of the 1993 Case-Based Reasoning Workshop.

• Memory in Humans and Computers
  Anthony's research on memory investigates the advantages of spontaneous, asynchronous remindings and their effects on problem solving. He has implemented a memory module, MOORE (the Memory Organization and Optimized Retrieval Engine), which is a testbed for these ideas. MOORE is designed to be a portable, generic memory system capable of use in many different kinds of AI systems.
  • Francis, A.G. & Ram, A. (in press). Can Your Architecture Do This: A Proposal for Impasse-driven Asychronous Memory Retrieval Request Generation. To appear in the AAAI-97 Fall Symposium on ROBOTS, SOFTBOTS, IMMOBOTS: Theories of Action, Planning and Control..
  • Francis, A.G. (1994). Psychological Aspects of MOORE: The Memory Organization and Optimized Retrieval Engine. White paper.

• Agents and Flexible Problem Solving
  Anthony's research on agents and reasoning has led to the development of MPA, a multi-plan merging system for a least-commitment partial order planning system. MPA is a component of the larger Nicole Project, a flexible agent architecture which integrates reasoning components like MPA with a flexible meta-level controller and an opportunistic reminding system (MOORE).
  • Francis, A.G. & Ram, A. (in press). Can Your Architecture Do This: A Proposal for Impasse-driven Asychronous Memory Retrieval Request Generation. To appear in the AAAI-97 Fall Symposium on ROBOTS, SOFTBOTS, IMMOBOTS: Theories of Action, Planning and Control..
  • Ram, A. & Francis, A.G. (1996). Multi-Plan Adaptation and Retrieval in an Experience-based Agent. In David Leake, Ed., Case-Based Reasoning: Experiences, Lessons, Future Directions.. MIT Press.
  • Francis, A.G. & Ram, A. (1995). An Algorithm for Multi-Plan Adaptation and Merging for Least-Commitment Planners. In AKR-95: AAAI Fall Symposium on Adaptation of Knowledge for Reuse..
  • Francis, A.G. (1995). Memory-Based Opportunistic Reasoning. Ph.D. Thesis Proposal. Also available in HTML format.

• Animal Cognition
  Along with Kurt Eiselt, Anthony Francis is involved in the 1994 Cognitive Science Conference Symposium on Animal Cognition. The Symposium will address issues in animal reasoning, animal communication, the possibility of animal language, and comparative animal-human studies. Speakers at the Symposium will also present recent work in the field of animal cognition. Featured speakers at the 1994 Symposium included Duane Rumbaugh, David Washburn, and Mike Tomasello.