The Healthbot Creation!!

Background Study ABout Expert Systems

2008-09-14T06:07:00.000-07:00

Its been over 5 weeks since we got to start our project and the work is still like..."p grat lair" lol. So we have decide to use a good software development technique here. We will most probably be using the spiral model for this project.

So as I said before that we will be using AIML..but we have recently looked into the facts and see that AIML will not really fit this program.. we need an AI that will also be able to learn new things. Does AIML cater for this? I don't know yet. Will have to make some research on this.

So to REALLY start this hyper project.. we are doing some background research about existing softwares. Brief info:

MYCIN
DENDRAL
ZERO

MYCIN

MYCIN was an early expert system developed over five or six years in the early 1970s at Stanford University. It was written in Lisp. It arose in the laboratory that had created the earlier Dendral expert system, but emphasized the use of judgmental rules that had elements of uncertainty (known as certainty factors) associated with them. This expert system was designed to identify bacteria causing severe infections, such as bacteremia and meningitis, and to recommend antibiotics, with the dosage adjusted for patient's body weight.

MYCIN operated using a fairly simple inference engine, and a knowledge base of ~600 rules. It would query the physician running the program via a long series of simple yes/no or textual questions. At the end, it provided a list of possible culprit bacteria ranked from high to low based on the probability of each diagnosis, its confidence in each diagnosis' probability, the reasoning behind each diagnosis (that is, MYCIN would also list the questions and rules which led it to rank a diagnosis a particular way), and its recommended course of drug treatment.

DENDRAL

Dendral was an influential pioneer project in artificial intelligence (AI) of the 1960s, and the computer software expert system that it produced. Its primary aim was to help organic chemists in identifying unknown organic molecules, by analyzing their mass spectra and using knowledge of chemistry.

It consists of two sub-programs, Heuristic Dendral and Meta-Dendral,^[5]. It was written in Lisp (programming language), which was considered the language of AI.

ZERO

Zero is an artificial intelligent chatbot being designed by Computer Hope as a way to help develop our natural language processing and fuzzy logic methods used in scripts throughout our web page. Our overall goal is to develop easier methods for users to locate the answers to their computer related questions through the use of artificial intelligence.

As Zero continues to talk and be taught by other users it's database of knowledge and potential responses grow and enable Zero to learn.

Written in Perl!!

There are many others but most codes are not open source. Possible languages we will be using are JESS, CLIPS, PERL, LISP or AIML.

AM still comparing the different ones. Will be updating soon of their advantages and disadvantages. Express your comments here and share what you know. I would be most grateful to your valued knowledge sharing.

Chatter Bot!!

2008-08-17T07:32:00.000-07:00

What is a chatterbot?

A chatterbot (or chatbot) is a type of conversational agent, a computer program designed to simulate an intelligent conversation with one or more human users via auditory or textual methods. In other words, a chatterbot is a computer program with artificial intelligence to talk to people through voices or typed words. Though many appear to be intelligently interpreting the human input prior to providing a response, most chatterbots simply scan for keywords within the input and pull a reply with the most matching keywords or the most similar wording pattern from a local database.

A good understanding of a conversation is required to carry on a meaningful dialog but most chatterbots do not attempt this. Instead they "converse" by recognizing cue words or phrases from the human user, which allows them to use pre-prepared or pre-calculated responses which can move the conversation on in an apparently meaningful way without requiring them to know what they are talking about.

Some programs classified as chatterbots use other principles. One example is Jabberwacky, which attempts to model the way humans learn new facts and language. ELLA attempts to use natural language processing to make more useful responses from a human's input. Some programs that use natural language conversation, such as SHRDLU, are not generally classified as chatterbots because they link their speech ability to knowledge of a simulated world. This type of link requires a more complex artificial intelligence (eg., a "vision" system) than standard chatterbots have.

ALICE

A.L.I.C.E., uses a programming language called AIML that is specific to its program, and its various clones, named Alicebots. Nevertheless, A.L.I.C.E. is still based on pattern matching without any reasoning. This is the same technique ELIZA, the first chatterbot, was using back in 1966.

Source: Wikipedia

In a few words, we will be designing a chatter bot somehow like ALICE with the database of ALICE mind and also be implementing other intelligence data from the research we will be doing on health and nutrition. The Healthbot is a new and more specialized version of ALICE which will be specializing in advising humans about health matters

The Keywords!!

2008-08-17T07:24:00.000-07:00

"The aim is to build an online conversational agent that will act as a coach to help people to have a healthy diet. It should offer personalized, one-to-one coaching on healthy dieting and advices on losing weight, and many more.. Perhaps can make use of AIML programming language."

"The required softwares might be: AIML, JESS etc...and PHP or JSP. In other words...its any Rulebased Programming Language."

The most important part to research on:

ChatterBot
Rulebased Programming Language
AIML
JESS
Healthy Diet
Weight Loss
Nutrition

First we'll start by looking for the maximum of information about these main keywords!

First Nutrition Research Mini Report

2008-08-13T09:39:00.000-07:00

This project mainly concerns to provide an online facility to encourage people to have healthy diets, tips on losing weight and solutions for overweight persons.

The first step towards healthy eating is to “eat smart”. It's not just what you eat, but how you eat. Paying attention to what you eat and choosing foods that are both nourishing and enjoyable helps support an overall healthy diet.

To ensure that you get a well-balanced diet that provides the daily nutrients you need, it is recommended to focus your diet on the following basic food groups. The basics on carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fiber.

We all need a balance of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins to sustain a healthy body. But knowing the right amount to take is also important, so understanding dietary guidelines is the first step in developing your own healthy eating plan.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates – food composed of some combination of starches, sugar and fiber - provide the body with fuel it needs for physical activity by breaking down into glucose, a type of sugar our cells use as a universal energy source.

Proteins

Our bodies need protein to maintain our cells, tissues and organs. Getting the right amount of protein is a fine balance: eat too little and your body may start to break down its own tissues; eat too much and it can damage your kidneys.
Sources of Protein

Most people rely on red meat products for their main protein source, but red meats contain a lot of unhealthy fat. Aim for protein sources that contain the highest amounts of protein with the lowest amount of saturated fat.

Eating omega-3 fatty acid-rich fish can reduce the risk of heart disease. Good choices also include chicken, turkey, and eggs. Vegetarians and vegans can substitute vegetable protein for these sources, but may want to consider an omega-3 supplement.

Fats

Our bodies use fat to do everything from building cell membranes to performing key functions in the brain, eyes, and lungs, and use the different types of “good” fats (unsaturated, mono-saturated, poly-unsaturated, omega 3 and 6).

Healthy Fats

They are essential to us to provide the right amount of beneficial good fats in a balanced diet. Healthy Fats and Oils are important to support brain and body functions.

The “bad” fats - trans and saturated fats - increase the risk for certain diseases. Trans fats, or trans fatty acids, are the worst things of the nutrition world. Created by adding hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid, trans fats give foods a longer shelf life. While they might be beneficial to processed food manufacturers, trans fats are detrimental to you – they raise bad (LDL) and lower good (HDL) cholesterol, putting you at increased risk for heart disease.

Milk and other dairy products for calcium and vitamin D.

Dairy products provide a rich source of calcium, necessary for bone health. Most are fortified with vitamin D, which helps the small intestine absorb calcium.

How much water should we consume for a healthy diet?

Most experts suggest drinking at least eight glasses of water a day. However, you may need to drink more water if you are very active, pregnant or breastfeeding, live in a warmer climate, or have certain health problems. Heavy people may also need more water.

Healthy Tips and Strategies for a healthy diet

The following tips can help you ease your way into a healthier diet.

1. Read the labels – Always look at the first ingredient listed - seeing sugar, syrup, salt, or some other unhealthy ingredient high on the list probably means it isn’t the healthiest choice.

2. Keep a food diary – For one week, write down everything that you eat or drink every day. If possible keep track of serving sizes. At the end of the week, review your diary and decide where you need to make improvements.

3. Set goals – Your goal can also be as simple as ordering a salad rather than a less-than-healthy appetizer or side whenever you go out to eat.

4. Eat plenty of high-fiber foods—i.e. fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains. These are the "good" carbohydrates—nutritious, filling, and relatively low in calories.

5. Make sure to include green, orange, and yellow fruits and vegetables—such as broccoli, carrots, cantaloupe, and citrus fruits. The antioxidants and other nutrients in these foods may help protect against developing certain types of cancer and other diseases. Eat five or more servings a day.

6. Limit your intake of sugary foods, refined-grain products such as white bread, and salty snack foods. Sugar is the main additive, is added to a vast array of foods.

7. Cut down on animal fat. It’s rich in saturated fat, which boosts blood cholesterol levels and has other adverse health effects. Choose lean meats, skinless poultry, and nonfat or low-fat or nonfat dairy products.

8. Eat more fish and nuts, which contain healthy unsaturated fats. Substitute olive or canola oil for butter or stick margarine.

9. Keep your cholesterol intake below 300 milligrams per day. Cholesterol is found only in animal products, such as meats, poultry, dairy products, and egg yolks.

10. Eat a variety of foods. Don't try to fill your nutrient requirements by eating the same foods day in, day out. It is possible that not every essential nutrient has been identified, and so eating a wide assortment of foods helps to ensure that you will get all the necessary nutrients. In addition, this will limit your exposure to any pesticides or toxic substances that may be present in one particular food.

11. Maintain an adequate calcium intake. Calcium is essential for strong bones and teeth. Get calcium from low-fat sources, such as skim milk and low-fat yogurt. If you can't get the optimal amount from foods, take supplements.

12. Try to get your vitamins and minerals from foods, not from supplements. Supplements cannot substitute for a healthy diet, which supplies nutrients and other compounds besides vitamins and minerals. Foods also provide the "synergy" that many nutrients require to be efficiently used in the body.

Obesity and Its Consequences

Excess body weight poses one of the most serious public health challenges. Poor diet, a lack of physical activity and the resulting obesity and its associated illnesses are together responsible for as much ill health and premature death as tobacco smoking. Overweight affects between 30% and 80% of adults in the different countries and up to one third of children.

Social determinants of obesity such as poverty and area deprivation are also associated with mental disorders such as depression and schizophrenia. Mental health problems are also risk factors for obesity in their own right, and there are strong associations between some of these disorders, such as depression and schizophrenia and obesity. A contributing factor is that some of the medication prescribed for mental health problems can cause weight gain.

Preventing obesity is thus an urgent public health goal that should be dealt with through innovative environmental approaches, very much like clean water supplies, sewerage treatment facilities and food inspection services were introduced in the 18th and 19th centuries and controls have recently been established on air pollution, drink–driving, seat belt use and smoking in public places.

More Details...

2008-08-06T07:51:00.000-07:00

So more details about my project. I am doing this project with another team mate...Liina. So whats the basic of it?

The title is: Implement an Interactive French/English chatterbot with speech recognition!

Sound not too clear...

The aim is to build an online conversational agent that will act as a coach to help people to have a healthy diet. It should offer personalized, one-to-one coaching on healthy dieting and advices on losing weight, and many more.. Perhaps can make use of AIML programming language.

The required softwares might be: AIML, JESS etc...and PHP or JSP. In other words...its any Rulebased Programming Language.

So I am currently looking at the different possibilities...concerning language...and Liina is supposed to be looking and doing research on the FACTS side...of nutrition...diets...and weight loss all that.

So I'll be updating here very soon....

The Start!!!

2008-08-06T05:05:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my special blog which I have created just for my final year university project!

So why The Healthbot?? - And why a blog??

A blog because it will be easier to follow all development of the project and it will also be a memorable place when the project will be completed. It is my very first big project on which I am going to work so I wanted it to be kept in history :-)

The Healthbot because the project I am working on is to create a virtual health assistant with artificial intelligence which will be able to give advice and hold a mature and logic conversation with a real human! The sysrem will be an online one and will also have to have speech recognition. For example the user will talk to the robot via a microphone and the robot will also have to talk back or just type the reply on the screen.

So how to do it? I don't know. I am still doing some basic research about it...but is also very excited as this is something completely new...and I always dream to work on artificial intelligence stuffs.

The bad side to all of this is that I will be having 6 BIG modules at university instead of the common 4 for this last year! Plus the project! So it will be hard! But it is also more challenging! So...this will be the blog on which all updates will be published.

Any help and advice from any of you will be much apreciated and I will also give you a credit in my project final report.

So lets start....the metamorphism of a dream to reality!!! - I have also created a blog for yusha...for her final year dissertation. You can also follow her work here on her blog.