Modeling and Reasoning about User Preferences using CP-networks
Preference elicitation is a well-known bottleneck in decision analysis and decision automation tasks. The best description of a user's preference is via a utility function. However, obtaining a good utility function from a lay user requires the assistance of an expert. For example, suppose that you want to help a customer of an online merchant to choose an appropriate configuration for a PC, or select the vacation that is most suitable for him. An expert decision analyst will not be around. This is why we have been developing Conditional Preference Networks (CP-nets), a family of formally sound qualitative models for representation and reasoning about preference that are based on intuitive statements which lay users find natural. In this talk I will present the CP-nets model, describe its computational properties and various application-related issues, and discuss some current and future work in this area.
* Joint work with Ronen Brafman (Ben-Gurion University).