Planning algorithms evaluate probability of success, suggest
low-risk alternatives.
Imagine that you could tell your phone that you want to
drive from your house in Boston to a hotel in upstate New York, that you want
to stop for lunch at an Applebee’s at about 12:30, and that you don’t want the
trip to take more than four hours. Then imagine that your phone tells you that
you have only a 66 percent chance of meeting those criteria — but that if you
can wait until 1:00 for lunch, or if you’re willing to eat at TGI Friday’s
instead, it can get that probability up to 99 percent.