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CALL FOR PAPERS for the 4th International and IJCAI-09 Workshop on EXPLANATION-AWARE COMPUTING (ExaCt 2009) 11-12 July 2009, Pasadena, CA, USA http://exact2009.workshop.hm ** Paper submission deadline: March 6, 2009** Both within AI systems and in interactive systems, the ability to explain reasoning processes and results can have substantial impact. Within the field of knowledge-based systems, explanations have been considered as an important link between humans and machines. There, their main purpose has been to increase the confidence of the user in the system’s result (persuasion) or the system as a whole (satisfaction), by providing evidence of how it was derived (transparency). More recently, in recommender systems good explanations have also been used to help to inspire user trust and loyalty (trust), and make it quicker and easier (efficiency) for users to find what they want (effectiveness). Additional AI research has focused on how computer systems can themselves use explanations, for example to form new generalizations (learning). Explanations have also been used to increase the external user's understanding of a domain (education). Current interest in mixed-initiative systems provides a new context in which explanation issues may play a crucial role. When knowledge-based systems are partners in an interactive socio-technical process, with incomplete and changing problem descriptions, communication between human and software systems is a central part. Thus explanations exchanged between human agents and software agents may play an important role in mixed-initiative problem solving. This workshop series aims to draw on multiple perspectives on explanation, to examine how explanation can be applied to further the development of robust and dependable systems, and increase transparency, user sense of control (scrutability), trust, acceptance and decision support. If you would like to participate in discussions on this topic or like to receive further information about this workshop you might consider joining the Yahoo!-group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/explanation-research. Information on explanation research is also collected at http://on-explanation.net. GOALS AND AUDIENCE We invite original contributions to the research on explanations from a variety of areas and communities such as computer science, cognitive science, linguistics, philosophy of science, psychology, and education. In addition to presentations and discussions of invited contributions and invited talks, this workshop will offer organised and open sessions for targeted discussions and creating an interdisciplinary community. Demonstration sessions will provide the opportunity to showcase explanation-enabled/-aware applications. TOPICS OF INTEREST Suggested topics for contributions (not restricted to IT views): * Models and knowledge representations for explanations * Integrating application and explanation knowledge * Explanation-awareness in (designing) applications * Methodologies for developing explanation-aware systems * Explanations and learning * Context-aware explanation vs. explanation-aware context * Confidence and explanations * Privacy, security, trust, and explanation * Empirical studies of explanations * Requirements and needs for explanations to support human understanding * Explanation of complex, autonomous systems * Co-operative explanation * Visualising explanations * Dialogue management and natural language generation Submissions on additional topics are welcome as well. SUBMISSIONS AND STYLE Workshop submissions will be electronic, in pdf format only, using the EasyChair submission system linked from the workshop website. Papers must be written in English and not exceed 12 pages in the Springer LNCS format. At least one author of each accepted paper must register for the workshop and present the contribution in order to be published in the workshop proceedings. The organising committee is considering editing a special issue of an appropriate international journal (e.g., Kluwer’s Knowledge-based Systems, Elsevier’s Expert Systems with Applications, or Springer’s Information System Frontiers) depending on the number and quality of the submissions. Those wishing to participate providing a live system demonstration should submit a proposal (1-2 pages). Those wishing to participate without paper or demo submission should submit a brief synopsis of their relevant work or at least a brief statement of interest. Non-archival working notes will be produced containing the papers presented at the workshop. If you have questions please contact the chairs at the following email address: exact2...@dfki.uni-kl.de. IMPORTANT DATES Submission deadline: March 6, 2009 Notification of acceptance: April 17, 2009 Camera-ready versions of papers: May 8, 2009 IJCAI-09 Workshop Program: July 11-12, 2009 WORKSHOP SCHEDULE The schedule will be made available on the workshop website. See the workshop website for an agenda overview und links to past workshops. INVITED TALKS Talks by two invited speakers, each representing a different community addressing explanation issues, are planned. CHAIRS Thomas R. Roth-Berghofer, German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence DFKI GmbH, Germany thomas.roth-berghofer at dfki de Nava Tintarev, Department of Computer Science, University Of Aberdeen, UK n.tintare at abdn ac uk David B. Leake Computer Science Department, Indiana University, USA leake at cs indiana edu PROGRAMME COMMITTEE Agnar Aamodt, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) David W. Aha, Navy Center for Applied Research in AI, Washington DC, USA Patrick Brézillon, LIP6, France Jörg Cassens, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) Li Chen, Dept. of Computer Science, Hong Kong Baptist University Francisco Javier Díez, UNED Madrid, Spain Babak Esfandiari, Carleton University, Canada Pierre Grenon, KMI, The Open University, UK Anders Kofod-Petersen, SINTEF, Norway Hector Muñoz-Avila, Lehigh University, USA Paulo Pinheiro da Silva, University of Texas, El Paso, USA Enric Plaza, IIIA-CSIC, Spain Michael M. Richter, University of Kaiserslautern, Germany Christophe Roche, University of Savoie, France Sven Schwarz, DFKI, Germany Gheorghe Tecuci, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA Douglas Walton, University of Winnipeg, Canada _______________________________________________ uai mailing list uai@ENGR.ORST.EDU https://secure.engr.oregonstate.edu/mailman/listinfo/uai