Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-computer-science-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2023/artificial-intelligence/1/e/solution
Past exam of the computer science course of the University of Oxford 2023 Artificial intelligence 1 e Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Depth-first tree search is neither complete nor optimal for minimizing rounds.
For incompleteness, use the two-row, three-column board from part (c), with exit . If stay is the first action explored, depth-first tree search follows the repeating state forever. Moving the rabbit down instead survives the round: under legal horizontal-then-vertical movement the fox moves to and then , leaving the rabbit safely at the exit. Thus a one-round escape exists but is never reached in this action order.
For nonoptimality, use an unobstructed one-row board with columns , initial fox column , initial rabbit column , and exits at columns and . Moving left once escapes at column with the fox at column . Moving right twice escapes at column with successive fox positions . A depth-first tree search that explores the latter route first returns two rounds although one suffices. This counterexample supplies an actual returned, suboptimal escape independently of the infinite-branch example.
New to topics? Read the docs here!