We discuss a challenge in developing intelligent agents (robots) that can collaborate with human in problem solving. Specifically, we consider situations in which a robot must use natural language in communicating with human and responding to the human’s communication appropriately. In the process, we identify three main tasks. The first task requires the development of planners capable of dealing withdescriptive goals. The second task, calledplan failure analysis, demands the ability to analyze and determine the reason(s) why the planning system does not success. The third task focuses on the ability to understand communications via natural language. We show how the first two tasks can be accomplished in answer set programming.

Authors and Affiliations

1. Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

   Chitta Baral

2. Department of Computer Science, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA

   Tran Cao Son

Corresponding author

Correspondence toTran Cao Son.

Editors and Affiliations

1. University of Calabria, Rende, Italy

   Francesco Calimeri

2. University of Calabria, Rende, Italy

   Giovambattista Ianni

3. University of Kentucky Dept. Computer Science, Lexington, Kentucky, USA

   Miroslaw Truszczynski

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