David Poole
David Poole researches the connection between logic, probability and decision making. He earned his ANU doctorate in 1984 and joined UBC in 1988 after Waterloo faculty work. His contributions include assumption-based reasoning, probabilistic Horn abduction and independent choice logic. He worked with Nevin Zhang on probabilistic inference and later developed lifted inference methods. With Alan Mackworth he coauthored an AI textbook with editions from 2010 to 2023. He was a full professor at UBC from 1998 to 2024.
- Works
- 271
- Citations
- 12,579
- h-index
- 42
Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 14 October 2026.
Timeline
-
1984–1988
An academic research path
Poole earned his Australian National University doctorate in 1984 and worked on the faculty at Waterloo from 1985 to 1988. He joined UBC in 1988. His early work developed assumption-based reasoning, where explicit assumptions support explanation and prediction.
-
Early 1990s
Logic with uncertain choices
Poole developed probabilistic Horn abduction in the early 1990s. The framework represents logical consequences of choices with independent probabilities, followed by the broader independent choice logic. These frameworks connect symbolic descriptions with uncertainty; they support reasoning about observations and their possible explanations.
-
1990s–early 2000s
More efficient probabilistic inference
Poole and Nevin Zhang worked on variable elimination and forms of independence in probabilistic inference. Poole developed lifted inference in the early 2000s, which reasons with structured groups of objects.
-
2010–2024
Teaching and later career
Poole coauthored Artificial Intelligence: Foundations of Computational Agents with Alan Mackworth, with editions in 2010, 2017 and 2023. He was a full professor at UBC from 1998 to 2024 and held an emeritus position afterward.
Sources and credits
Photo: cs.ubc.ca; David Poole; creator not stated. License: Not stated by source. Source: cs.ubc.ca. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.