Search
The process within AI of exploring possible actions or solutions in order to achieve goals or solve problems.
Search in AI involves navigating through a problem space to identify a sequence of actions that leads to a desired goal, significantly underpinning numerous AI applications including pathfinding, game playing, optimization, and decision-making. At a theoretical level, search algorithms can be categorized into uninformed (blind) and informed (heuristic-driven), with techniques such as Depth-First Search (DFS), Breadth-First Search (BFS), and A* representing some of the foundational methodologies used. Search plays a critical role in AI systems by enabling the exploration of vast multi-dimensional data spaces to identify optimal or near-optimal solutions efficiently, and it integrates heavily with other AI techniques like ML (Machine Learning) and NLP (Natural Language Processing) to enhance decision-making and predictive analytics.
The concept of search in computing dates back to early computer science but was formalized with the advent of AI in the 1950s, gaining substantial traction through the development of algorithms such as those used in early AI programs like the General Problem Solver in the 1960s.
Key contributors to the development of search algorithms in AI include Allen Newell and Herbert A. Simon, who developed the aforementioned General Problem Solver. Their work laid the groundwork for future advancements in search theories and applications. Additionally, Richard Bellman's introduction of dynamic programming has had a profound impact on search strategies used in AI optimization problems.