Utility-Based Abstraction and Categorization
  We take a utility-based approach to categorization. We construct
generalizations about events and actions by considering losses associated with
failing to distinguish among detailed distinctions in a decision model. The
utility-based methods transform detailed states of the world into more abstract
categories comprised of disjunctions of the states. We show how we can cluster
distinctions into groups of distinctions at progressively higher levels of
abstraction, and describe rules for decision making with the abstractions. The
techniques introduce a utility-based perspective on the nature of concepts, and
provide a means of simplifying decision models used in automated reasoning
systems. We demonstrate the techniques by describing the capabilities and
output of TUBA, a program for utility-based abstraction.
