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Personalized Assistant that Learns (PAL)
Program Manager: Dr. Robert Kohout
Mission:
The mission of the PAL program is to radically improve the way computers support humans by enabling systems that are cognitive, i.e., computer systems that can reason, learn from experience, be told what to do, explain what they are doing, reflect on their experience, and respond robustly to surprise. More specifically, PAL will develop a series of prototype cognitive systems that can act as an assistant for commanders and staff. Successful completion of this program will usher in a new era of computational support for a broad range of human activity.
Current software systems - in the military and elsewhere - are plagued by brittleness and the inability to deal with changing and novel situations - and must therefore be painstakingly programmed for every contingency. If PAL succeeds it could result in software systems that could learn on their own - that could adapt to changing situations without the need for constant reprogramming. PAL technology could drastically reduce the money spend by DoD on information systems of all kinds.
This is the first broad-based research program in cognitive systems since the Strategic Computing Initiative funded by DARPA in the 1980s. Since then, there have been significant developments in the technologies needed to enable cognitive systems, such as machine learning, reasoning, perception, and, multi-modal interaction. Improvements in processors, memory, sensors and networking have also dramatically changed the context of cognitive systems research. It is now time to encourage the various areas to come together again by focusing on by a common application problem: a Personalized Assistant that Learns.
Developing cognitive systems that learn to adapt to their user could dramatically improve a wide range of military operations. The development and application of intelligent systems to support military decision-making may provide dramatic advances for traditional military roles and missions. The technologies developed under the PAL program are intended to make military decision-making more efficient and more effective at all levels.
For example, today's command centers require hundreds of staff members to support a relatively small number of key decision-makers. If PAL succeeds, and develops a new capability for "cognitive assistants," those assistants could eliminate the need for large command staffs - enabling smaller, more mobile, less vulnerable command centers.
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