Module Title
Topic 3:
Knowledge Representation
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Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.2
Scope and Coverage
This topic will cover:
• Definition of knowledge
• Types of knowledge
• Logic representation
• Semantic network representation
• Frame representation
• Conceptual graph representation
• Production rules
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.3
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this topic students will be able
to:
• Explain and identify different types of knowledge.
• Apply knowledge representation using the logical,
semantic network, frame, and production rules
techniques.
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.4
What is Knowledge?
• An intelligent system needs knowledge about the
real world for making decisions and reasoning to
act efficiently.
• Knowledge is theoretical or practical
understanding of a subject or a domain. WISDOM
KNOWLEDG
• Knowledge is also the sum of what
E
is currently known, and can refer to INFORMATION
data, facts, and information used to DATA
solve problems. The Knowledge Pyramid
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.5
Types of Knowledge
• Describes something.
Declarative • Also referred to as conceptual, propositional or
Knowledge descriptive knowledge
Procedural • Knowing how to do or achieve something
Knowledge • Also known as imperative knowledge
• Describes relationships between concepts and
Structural Knowledge grouping of something
• Is basic knowledge to problem-solving
• Rules of thumb built of previous experiences
and approaches
Heuristic Knowledge • Is representing knowledge of some experts in a
subject
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.6
Types of Knowledge
• Knowledge about the other types of knowledge
Meta-Knowledge • E.g. metarules, tagging, taxonomies,
knowledge management, etc.
• “That which precedes”
A Priori Knowledge • Is independent of experience and universally
true
A Posteriori • “That which follows”
Knowledge • Derived from experience or empirical evidence
• Unconscious knowledge and cannot be
Tacit Knowledge expressed by language
• E.g. knowing how to walk, breath, etc.
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.7
Knowledge Representation
• Knowledge representation (KS) is the study of
how to put knowledge into a form that a computer
can reason and manipulate with.
• The widespread growth of applications to real-world
problems caused an increase in the demands for
workable knowledge representation schemes
(KRS).
• The aim of KR is to enable computers to make
decisions from the knowledge they have.
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.8
Knowledge Representation Schemes
• KRS are frameworks designed to represent some
categories of knowledge in computers.
• KRS can be classified into 4 categories:
Logic
• Use formal logic to represent knowledge.
• Examples: propositional and predicate calculus.
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.9
Knowledge Representation Schemes
Procedural
• Represent knowledge with a set of sequential instructions to
solve problems
• Examples: flow chart, pseudocode, production rule, script.
Network
• Represent knowledge as graph in which the nodes represent
object/concept in the problem domain and arcs represent
relations/associations between them.
• Examples: semantic network, state space, mind map.
Structured
• Extend networks by allowing each node to be a complex data
structure consisting of property types and values.
• Example: frame.
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.10
Knowledge Representation Schemes
(Poole & Mackworth, 2017)
The role of representations in solving problems
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.11
Knowledge Representation Techniques
• A number of knowledge representation techniques
have been devised:
Logic
Semantic Network
Frame
Conceptual graph
Rule
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.12
Logic
• Logic is the study of making inferences – given a
set of facts, we attempt to reach a true conclusion.
• We use logic in our everyday lives – “should I buy
this car”, “should I seek medical attention”.
• People are not very good at reasoning because
they often fail to separate word meanings with the
reasoning process itself. Semantics refers to the
meanings we give to symbols.
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.13
Logic
• An argument refers to the formal way facts and
rules of inferences are used to reach valid
conclusions. The process of reaching valid
conclusions is referred to as logical reasoning.
• Earliest form of logic was based on the syllogism –
developed by Aristotle.
• Example:
Premise: All cats are climbers.
Premise: Garfield is a cat.
Conclusion: Garfield is a climber.
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.14
Logic
• Propositional Logic: The study of propositions, where
a proposition is a statement that is either true or false. It
is a method of manipulating symbols and sentences.
• A sentence represented symbolically is known as well-
formed formulae (wff), a syntactically correct formula .
Example:
If John is at the party, then Mary is too.
(p q)
p = John is at the party, q = Mary is at the party
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.15
Logic
• Predicate Logic: The study of predicates, where a
predicate is a characteristic or property that the subject
of a statement can have. Predicate logic is a richer
system than propositional logic, and it allows complex
facts about the world to be represented.
Example:
All elephants like peanuts. X elephant(X)
like_peanut(X)
Everybody loves somebody. X Y love(X,Y)
Someone wrote the Deep Blue. X write(X, deep blue)
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.16
Checkpoint Summary
• Knowledge is a theoretical or practical understanding
of a subject. Knowledge is the sum of what is
currently known.
• There are various types of knowledge, including
declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge, meta-
knowledge, heuristic knowledge and structural
knowledge.
• A large number of different representation schemes
and reasoning languages, including the use of logic,
semantic networks, frames, graphs and rules.
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.17
Semantic Network
• Semantic network is a classic representation
technique for propositional information, which
introduced by Collins and Quillian (1969) to model
human memory.
• Propositions – a form of declarative knowledge,
stating facts (true/false), “atoms” that cannot be
further subdivided.
• Semantic networks consist of nodes (objects,
concepts, situations, facts) and arcs (relationships
between them).
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.18
Semantic Network
• Example:
Common Types of
Relationships in
Semantic Networks:
IS-A – relates an
instance or individual to
a generic class
A-KIND-OF – relates
generic nodes to
generic nodes
Semantic network developed by Collins and Quillian (Luger, 2011)
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.19
Semantic Network
• More examples:
(Giarratano & Riley, 2005)
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.20
Semantic Network
• More examples:
(Luger, 2011)
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.21
Frame
• Introduced by Marvin Minsky (1974). Frame
extends semantic network to provide a more
structured way of representing a knowledge base.
It stores properties, values, methods and relevant
information of object.
• Semantic nets provide 2-dimensional knowledge;
frames provide 3-dimensional.
• Frames represent related knowledge about narrow
subjects having much default knowledge.
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.22
Frame
• A frame is a group of slots and fillers that defines
a stereotypical object that is used to represent
generic / specific knowledge.
• A slot stores filler (information) like specific value,
default value, inherited value, a pointer to
another frame (superclass or subclass).
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.23
Frame
• Example: A Car Frame
(Giarratano & Riley, 2005)
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.24
Frame
• Example:
(Luger, 2011)
Part of a frame description of a hotel room. “Specialization” indicates a pointer to a superclass.
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.25
Conceptual Graph
• A conceptual graph (CG) is a finite, connected,
bipartite graph. The nodes of the graph are either
concepts (knowledge / fact / action) or conceptual
relations (type of relationship between 2 concepts).
• Rules of CG:
– NO arcs between a concept and another concept.
– NO arcs between a relation and another relation.
– All arcs either go from a concept to a relation or from a relation to a
concept.
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.26
Conceptual Graph
• Examples:
A dog is brown A cat is on the mat
dog colour brown cat on mat
A monkey scratch its ear with a paw
part of
monkey agent scratch object ear
instrument
part of paw (Luger, 2011)
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.27
Conceptual Graph
• Examples:
A cat is grey
General concept CG is referring to a
Cat: X colour grey particular but unknown instance.
A cat named Tom is grey
Cat: Tom colour grey
Cat colour grey Specific concept CG is referring to a
particular and known instance.
name
“Tom” (Luger, 2011)
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.28
Conceptual Graph
“is a” “has a”
Garfield agent like object lasagna
“of” “which is” (Luger, 2011)
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.29
Production Rule
• Rule is the most commonly used type of KR in AI,
can be defined as an IF-THEN structure that
relates given information or facts in the IF part to
some action in the THEN part.
• A rule provides some description of how to solve a
problem. Rules are relatively easy to create and
understand.
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.30
Production Rule
• The IF part, called the antecedent (premise or condition)
and the THEN part called the consequent (conclusion or
action).
IF <antecedent>
THEN <consequent>
• A rule can have multiple antecedents joined by the
keywords AND (conjunction), OR (disjunction) or both.
IF <antecedent 1> IF <antecedent 1>
AND <antecedent 2> AND <antecedent 2>
……………………………. …………………………….
AND <antecedent n> OR <antecedent n>
THEN <consequent> THEN <consequent>
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.31
Production Rule
• Example:
IF the ‘traffic light’ is green
THEN the action is go
IF the ‘traffic light’ is red
THEN the action is stop
IF ‘age of the customer’ < 18
AND ‘cash withdrawal’ > 1000
THEN ‘signature of the parent’ is required
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.32
Summary
• We have discussed:
– The meaning of knowledge and knowledge
representation
– Different types of knowledge
– Some techniques of representing knowledge
• Fallacies may result from confusion between form of
knowledge and semantics.
• Different problems require different representation
techniques.
Topic 3 Knowledge Representation - 3.33
References
• Russell, S., & Norvig, P. (2016). Artificial Intelligence: A
Modern Approach: Pearson
• Luger, G. F. (2011). Artificial Intelligence: Structures
and Strategies for Complex Problem Solving: Pearson
Education.
• Poole, D.L. and Mackworth, A.K. (2017). Artificial
Intelligence: foundations of computational agents:
Cambridge University Press.
• Giarratano, J. C., & Riley, G. (2005). Expert Systems:
Principles and Programming: Thomson Course
Technology.
Topic 3 – Knowledge Representation
Any Questions?
