Patent US 6,754,644

An autonomous adaptive agent which can learn verbal as well as nonverbal behavior. The primary object of the system is to optimize a primary value function over time through continuously learning how to behave in an environment (which may be physical or electronic). Inputs may include verbal advice or information from sources of varying reliability as well as direct or preprocessed environmental inputs. Desired agent behavior may include motor actions and verbal behavior which may constitute a system output (and which may also function “internally” to guide external actions. A further aspect involves an efficient “training” process by which the agent can be taught to utilize verbal advice and information along with environmental inputs.