ABSTRACT
How does an autonomous agent that interacts with an environment learn to survive in the environment and make the most out of it? More specifically, how can it develop a set of coping skills that are highly specific (geared toward very particular situations) and thus highly efficient but, at the same time, acquire sufficiently general knowledge that can be readily applied to a variety of different situations? Although humans seem to possess such abilities and seem to be able to achieve an appropriate balance between the two sides, existing AI systems fall far short.
