The reinforcement learning (RL) problem is the challenge of artificial intelligence in a microcosm; how can we build an agent that can plan, learn, perceive, and act in a complex world? There's a great new book on the market that lays out the conceptual and algorithmic foundations of this exciting area. RL pioneers Rich Sutton and Andy Barto have published {\em Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction\/}, providing a highly accessible starting point for interested students, researchers, and practitioners.
@ARTICLE{Thrun99k,
AUTHOR = {Thrun, S. and Littman, M.},
TITLE = {Book Review: {R}einforcement {L}earning by
{R}.~{S}utton and {A}.~{B}arto},
JOURNAL = {AI Magazine},
YEAR = {2000},
VOLUME = {21},
NUMBER = {1},
PAGES = {103--105}
}