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Knowledge Representation and Reasoning

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Artificial Intelligence (CS607)
Lecture No. 14 -17
4 Knowledge Representation and Reasoning
Now that have looked at general problem solving, lets look at knowledge
representation and reasoning which are important aspects of any artificial
intelligence system and of any computer system in general. In this section we will
become familiar with classical methods of knowledge representation and
reasoning in AI.
4.1 The AI Cycle
Almost all AI systems have the following components in general:
·  Perception
·  Learning
·  Knowledge Representation and Reasoning
·  Planning
·  Execution
Figure 1 shows the relationship between these components.
An AI system has a perception component that allows the system to get
information from its environment. As with human perception, this may be visual,
audio or other forms of sensory information. The system must then form a
meaningful and useful representation of this information internally. This
knowledge representation maybe static or it may be coupled with a learning
component that is adaptive and draws trends from the perceived data.
LEARNING
PERCEPTION
KNOWLEDGE
REASONING
REPRESENTATION
(KR)
PLANNING
EXECUTION
Figure 1: The AI Cycle
Knowledge representation (KR) and reasoning are closely coupled components;
each is intrinsically tied to the other. A representation scheme is not meaningful
on its own; it must be useful and helpful in achieve certain tasks. The same
information may be represented in many different ways, depending on how you
want to use that information. For example, in mathematics, if we want to solve
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problems about ratios, we would most likely use algebra, but we could also use
simple hand drawn symbols. To say half of something, you could use 0.5x or you
could draw a picture of the object with half of it colored differently. Both would
convey the same information but the former is more compact and useful in
complex scenarios where you want to perform reasoning on the information. It is
important at this point to understand how knowledge representation and
reasoning are interdependent components, and as AI system designer, you have
to consider this relationship when coming up with any solution.
4.2 The dilemma
The key question when we begin to think about knowledge representation and
reasoning is how to approach the problem ----should we try to emulate the human
brain completely and exactly as it is? Or should we come up with something
new?
Since we do not know how the KR and reasoning components are implemented
in humans, even though we can see their manifestation in the form of intelligent
behavior, we need a synthetic (artificial) way to model the knowledge
representation and reasoning capability of humans in computers.
4.3 Knowledge and its types
Before we go any further, lets try to understand what `knowledge' is. Durkin refers
to it as the "Understanding of a subject area". A well-focused subject area is
referred to as a knowledge domain, for example, medical domain, engineering
domain, business domain, etc..
If we analyze the various types of knowledge we use in every day life, we can
broadly define knowledge to be one of the following categories:
Procedural knowledge: Describes how to do things, provides a set of
·
directions of how to perform certain tasks, e.g., how to drive a car.
Declarative knowledge: It describes objects, rather than processes. What
·
is known about a situation, e.g. it is sunny today, and cherries are red.
Meta knowledge: Knowledge about knowledge, e.g., the knowledge that
·
blood pressure is more important for diagnosing a medical condition than
eye color.
Heuristic knowledge: Rule-of-thumb, e.g. if I start seeing shops, I am close
·
to the market.
o Heuristic knowledge is sometimes called shallow knowledge.
o Heuristic knowledge is empirical as opposed to deterministic
Structural knowledge: Describes structures and their relationships. e.g.
·
how the various parts of the car fit together to make a car, or knowledge
structures in terms of concepts, sub concepts, and objects.
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Structural
Declarative
Knowledge
Knowledge
Objects
Relationships
Facts
between
Objects,
Concepts
Knowledge
Heuristic
Procedural
Knowledge
Rules
Knowledge
Rules
of
Procedure
Thumb
s
Methods
Meta-
Knowledge
Knowledge
about
Knowledge
Fig 2: Types of Knowledge
4.4 Towards Representation
There are multiple approaches and schemes that come to mind when we begin to
think about representation
­ Pictures and symbols. This is how the earliest humans represented
knowledge when sophisticated linguistic systems had not yet evolved
­ Graphs and Networks
­ Numbers
4.4.1 Pictures
Each type of representation has its benefits. What types of knowledge is best
represented using pictures? , e.g. can we represent the relationship between
individuals in a family using a picture? We could use a series of pictures to store
procedural knowledge, e.g. how to boil an egg. But we can easily see that
pictures are best suited for recognition tasks and for representing structural
information. However, pictorial representations are not very easily translated to
useful information in computers because computers cannot interpret pictures
directly with out complex reasoning. So even though pictures are useful for
human understanding, because they provide a high level view of a concept to be
obtained readily, using them for representation in computers is not as straight
forward.
4.4.2 Graphs and Networks
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Graphs and Networks allow relationships between objects/entities to be
incorporated, e.g., to show family relationships, we can use a graph.
Tariq
Ayesha
Hassan
Amina
Mona
Ali
Fig 3: Family Relationships
We can also represent procedural knowledge using graphs, e.g. How to start a
car?
Insert Key
Turn Ignition
Press Clutch
Set Gear
Fig 4: Graph for procedural knowledge
4.4.3 Numbers
Numbers are an integral part of knowledge representation used by humans.
Numbers translate easily to computer representation. Eventually, as we know,
every representation we use gets translated to numbers in the computers internal
representation.
4.4.4 An Example
In the context of the above discussion, let's look at some ways to represent the
knowledge of a family
Using a picture
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Fig 5: Family Picture
As you can see, this kind of representation makes sense readily to humans, but if
we give this picture to a computer, it would not have an easy time figuring out the
relationships between the individuals, or even figuring out how many individuals
are there in the picture. Computers need complex computer vision algorithms to
understand pictures.
Using a graph
Ayesha
Tariq
Mona
Fig 6: Family graph
This representation is more direct and highlights relationships.
Using a description in words
For the family above, we could say in words
­ Tariq is Mona's Father
­ Ayesha is Mona's Mother
­ Mona is Tariq and Ayesha's Daughter
This example demonstrates the fact that each knowledge representation scheme
has its own strengths and weaknesses.
4.5 Formal KR techniques
In the examples above, we explored intuitive ways for knowledge representation.
Now, we will turn our attention to formal KR techniques in AI. While studying
these techniques, it is important to remember that each method is suited to
representing a certain type of knowledge. Choosing the proper representation is
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important because it must help in reasoning. As the saying goes `Knowledge is
Power'.
4.6 Facts
Facts are a basic block of knowledge (the atomic units of knowledge). They
represent declarative knowledge (they declare knowledge about objects). A
proposition is the statement of a fact. Each proposition has an associated truth
value. It may be either true or false. In AI, to represent a fact, we use a
proposition and its associated truth value, e.g.
­Proposition A: It is raining
­Proposition B: I have an umbrella
­Proposition C: I will go to school
4.6.1 Types of facts
Single-valued or multiple ­valued
Facts may be single-valued or multi-valued, where each fact (attribute) can take
one or more than one values at the same time, e.g. an individual can only have
one eye color, but may have many cars. So the value of attribute cars may
contain more than one value.
Uncertain facts
Sometimes we need to represent uncertain information in facts. These facts are
called uncertain facts, e.g. it will probably be sunny today. We may chose to store
numerical certainty values with such facts that tell us how much uncertainty there
is in the fact.
Fuzzy facts
Fuzzy facts are ambiguous in nature, e.g. the book is heavy/light. Here it is
unclear what heavy means because it is a subjective description. Fuzzy
representation is used for such facts. While defining fuzzy facts, we use certainty
factor values to specify value of "truth". We will look at fuzzy representation in
more detail later.
Object-Attribute-Value triplets
Object-Attribute Value Triplets or OAV triplets are a type of fact composed of
three parts; object, attribute and value. Such facts are used to assert a particular
property of some object, e.g.
Ali's eye color is brown.
o Object: Ali
o Attribute: eye color
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o Value: brown
Ahmed's son is Ali
o Object: Ahmed
o Attribute: son
o Value: Ali
OAV Triplets are also defined as in figure below
Eye Color
Ali
Brown
Object
Attribute
Value
Color
Ahmed
Red
Object
Attribute
Value
Figure: OAV Triplets
4.7 Rules
Rules are another form of knowledge representation. Durkin defines a rule as "A
knowledge structure that relates some known information to other information
that can be concluded or inferred to be true."
4.7.1 Components of a rule
A Rule consists of two components
o Antecedent or premise or the IF part
o Consequent or conclusion or the THEN part
For example, we have a rule: IF it is raining THEN I will not go to school
Premise: It is raining
Conclusion: I will not go to school.
4.7.2 Compound Rules
Multiple premises or antecedents may be joined using AND (conjunctions) and
OR (disjunctions), e.g.
IF it is raining AND I have an umbrella
THEN I will go to school.
IF it is raining OR it is snowing
THEN I will not go to school
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4.7.3 Types of rules
Relationship
Relationship rules are used to express a direct occurrence relationship between
two events, e.g. IF you hear a loud sound THEN the silencer is not working
Recommendation
Recommendation rules offer a recommendation on the basis of some known
information, e.g.
IF it is raining
THEN bring an umbrella
Directive
Directive rules are like recommendations rule but they offer a specific line of
action, as opposed to the `advice' of a recommendation rule, e.g.
IF it is raining AND you don't have an umbrella
THEN wait for the rain to stop
Variable Rules
If the same type of rule is to be applied to multiple objects, we use variable rules,
i.e.
rules
with
variables,
e.g.
If
X
is
a
Student
AND
X's
GPA>3.7
THEN place X on honor roll.
Such rules are called pattern-matching rules. The rule is matched with known
facts and different possibilities for the variables are tested, to determine the truth
of the fact.
Uncertain Rules
Uncertain rules introduce uncertain facts into the system, e.g.
IF you have never won a match
THEN you will most probably not win this time.
Meta Rules
Meta rules describe how to use other rules, e.g.
IF you are coughing AND you have chest congestion
THEN use the set of respiratory disease rules.
Rule Sets
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As in the previous example, we may group rules into categories in our knowledge
representation scheme, e.g. the set of respiratory disease rules
4.8 Semantic networks
Semantic networks are graphs, with nodes representing objects and arcs
representing relationships between objects. Various types of relationships may
be defined using semantic networks. The two most common types of
relationships are
­IS-A (Inheritance relation)
­HAS (Ownership relation)
Let's consider an example semantic network to demonstrate how knowledge in a
semantic network can be used
IS-A
IS-A
IS-A
IS-A
Truck
Bedford
Suzuki
Car
Vehicle
Travels by
Road
Figure: Vehicle Semantic Network
Network Operation
To infer new information from semantic networks, we can ask questions from
nodes
­ Ask node vehicle: `How do you travel?'
­ This node looks at arc and replies: road
­ Ask node Suzuki: `How do you travel?'
­ This node does not have a link to travel therefore it asks other
nodes linked by the IS-A link
­ Asks node Car (because of IS-A relationship)
­ Asks node Vehicle (IS-A relationship)
­ Node Vehicle Replies: road
Problems with Semantic Networks
o Semantic networks are computationally expensive at run-time as we need
to traverse the network to answer some question. In the worst case, we
may need to traverse the entire network and then discover that the
requested info does not exist.
o They try to model human associative memory (store information using
associations), but in the human brain the number of neurons and links are
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in the order of 1015. It is not practical to build such a large semantic
network, hence this scheme is not feasible for this type of problems.
o Semantic networks are logically inadequate as they do not have any
equivalent quantifiers, e.g., for all, for some, none.
4.9 Frames
"Frames are data structures for representing stereotypical knowledge of some
concept or object" according to Durkin, a frame is like a schema, as we would call
it in a database design. They were developed from semantic networks and later
evolved into our modern-day Classes and Objects. For example, to represent a
student, we make use of the following frame:
Frame Name: Student
Properties:
Age: 19
GPA: 4.0
Ranking: 1
Figure: Student Frame
The various components within the frame are called slots, e.g. Frame Name slot.
4.9.1 Facets
A slot in a frame can hold more that just a value, it consists of metadata and
procedures also. The various aspects of a slot are called facets. They are a
feature of frames that allows us to put constraints on frames. e.g. IF-NEEDED
Facets are called when the data of a particular slot is needed. Similarly, IF-
CHANGED Facets are when the value of a slot changes.
4.10 Logic
Just like algebra is a type of formal logic that deals with numbers, e.g. 2+4 = 6,
propositional logic and predicate calculus are forms of formal logic for dealing
with propositions. We will consider two basic logic representation techniques:
­Propositional Logic
­Predicate Calculus
4.10.1
Propositional logic
A proposition is the statement of a fact. We usually assign a symbolic variable to
represent a proposition, e.g.
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p = It is raining
q = I carry an umbrella
A proposition is a sentence whose truth values may be determined. So, each
proposition has a truth value, e.g.
­The proposition `A rectangle has four sides' is true
­The proposition `The world is a cube' is false.
4.10.1.1
Compound statements
Different propositions may be logically related and we can form compound
statements  of  propositions  using  logical  connectives.  Common  logical
connectives are:
AND (Conjunction)
OR (Disjunction)
NOT (Negation)
¬
If ... then (Conditional)
If and only if (bi-conditional)
The table below shows the logic of the above connectives
p
q
p q
pq
pq
pq
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
F
F
T
F
F
F
T
F
T
T
F
F
F
F
F
T
T
Figure: Truth Table of Binary Logical Connectives
4.10.1.2
Limitations of propositional logic
o Propositions can only represent knowledge as complete sentences, e.g.
a = the ball's color is blue.
o Cannot analyze the internal structure of the sentence.
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o No quantifiers are available, e.g. for-all, there-exists
o Propositional logic provides no framework for proving statements such as:
All humans are mortal
All women are humans
Therefore, all women are mortals
This is a limitation in its representational power.
4.10.2
Predicate calculus
Predicate Calculus is an extension of propositional logic that allows the structure
of facts and sentences to be defined. With predicate logic, we can use
expressions like
Color( ball, blue)
This allows the relationship of sub-sentence units to be expressed, e.g. the
relationship between color, ball and blue in the above example. Due to its greater
representational power, predicate calculus provides a mechanism for proving
statements and can be used as a logic system for proving logical theorems.
4.10.2.1
Quantifiers
Predicate calculus allows us to use quantifiers for statements. Quantifiers allow
us to say things about some or all objects within some set. The logical quantifiers
used in basic predicate calculus are universal and existential quantifiers.
The Universal quantifier
The symbol for the universal quantifier is It is read as "for every" or "for all" and
used in formulae to assign the same truth value to all variables in the domain,
e.g. in the domain of numbers, we can say that ( x) ( x + x = 2x). In words this
is: for every x (where x is a number), x + x = 2x is true. Similarly, in the domain of
shapes, we can say that ( x) (x = square  → x = polygon), which is read in
words as: every square is a polygon. In other words, for every x (where x is a
shape), if x is a square, then x is a polygon (it implies that x is a polygon).
Existential quantifier
The symbol for the existential quantifier is . It is read as "there exists", " for
some", "for at least one", "there is one", and is used in formulae to say that
something is true for at least one value in the domain, e.g. in the domain of
persons, we can say that
( x) (Person (x) father (x, Ahmed) ). In words this reads as: there exists some
person, x who is Ahmed's father.
4.10.2.2
First order predicate logic
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First order predicate logic is the simplest form of predicate logic. The main types
of symbols used are
­Constants are used to name specific objects or properties, e.g. Ali, Ayesha,
blue, ball.
­Predicates: A fact or proposition is divided into two parts
Predicate: the assertion of the proposition
Argument: the object of the proposition
For example, the proposition "Ali likes bananas" can be represented in predicate
logic as Likes (Ali, bananas), where Likes is the predicate and Ali and bananas
are the arguments.
­Variables: Variables are used to a represent general class of objects/properties,
e.g. in the predicate likes (X, Y), X and Y are variables that assume the values
X=Ali and Y=bananas
­Formulae:
Formulas
combine
predicates
and
quantifiers
to
represent
information
Lets us illustrate these symbols using an example
man(ahmed)
father(ahmed, belal)
brother(ahmed, chand)
Predicates
owns(belal, car)
tall(belal)
hates(ahmed, chand)
family()
Y (¬sister(Y,ahmed))
Formulae
X,Y,Z(man(X) man(Y) man(Z) father(Z,Y)
father(Z,X) brother(X,Y))
X, Y and Z
Variables
ahmed, belal, chand and car
Constants
Figure : Predicate Logic Example
The predicate section outlines the known facts about the situation in the form of
predicates, i.e. predicate name and its arguments. So, man(ahmed) means that
ahmed is a man, hates(ahmed, chand) means that ahmed hates chand.
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The formulae sections outlines formulae that use universal quantifiers and
variables to define certain rules. Y (¬sister(Y,ahmed)) says that there exists
no Y such that Y is the sister of ahmed, i.e. ahmed has no sister. Similarly,
X,Y,Z(man(X) man(Y) man(Z) father(Z,Y) father(Z,X) brother(X,Y))
means that if there are three men, X, Y and Z, and Z is the father of both X
and Y, then X and Y are bothers. This expresses the rule for the two
individuals being brothers.
4.11 Reasoning
Now that we have looked at knowledge representation, we will look at
mechanisms to reason on the knowledge once we have represented it using
some logical scheme. Reasoning is the process of deriving logical conclusions
from given facts. Durkin defines reasoning as `the process of working with
knowledge, facts and problem solving strategies to draw conclusions'.
Throughout this section, you will notice how representing knowledge in a
particular way is useful for a particular kind of reasoning.
4.12 Types of reasoning
We will look at some broad categories of reasoning
4.12.1.1
Deductive reasoning
Deductive reasoning, as the name implies, is based on deducing new information
from logically related known information. A deductive argument offers assertions
that lead automatically to a conclusion, e.g.
­If there is dry wood, oxygen and a spark, there will be a fire
Given: There is dry wood, oxygen and a spark
We can deduce: There will be a fire.
­All men are mortal. Socrates is a man.
We can deduce: Socrates is mortal
4.12.2
Inductive reasoning
Inductive reasoning is based on forming, or inducing a `generalization' from a
limited set of observations, e.g.
­Observation: All the crows that I have seen in my life are black.
­Conclusion: All crows are black
Comparison of deductive and inductive reasoning
We can compare deductive and inductive reasoning using an example. We
conclude what will happen when we let a ball go using both each type of
reasoning in turn
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­The inductive reasoning is as follows: By experience, every time I have let a ball
go, it falls downwards. Therefore, I conclude that the next time I let a ball go, it
will also come down.
­The deductive reasoning is as follows: I know Newton's Laws. So I conclude
that if I let a ball go, it will certainly fall downwards.
Thus the essential difference is that inductive reasoning is based on experience
while deductive reasoning is based on rules, hence the latter will always be
correct.
4.12.3
Abductive reasoning
Deduction is exact in the sense that deductions follow in a logically provable way
from the axioms. Abduction is a form of deduction that allows for plausible
inference, i.e. the conclusion might be wrong, e.g.
Implication: She carries an umbrella if it is raining
Axiom: she is carrying an umbrella
Conclusion: It is raining
This conclusion might be false, because there could be other reasons that she is
carrying an umbrella, e.g. she might be carrying it to protect herself from the sun.
4.12.4
Analogical reasoning
Analogical reasoning works by drawing analogies between two situations, looking
for similarities and differences, e.g. when you say driving a truck is just like
driving a car, by analogy you know that there are some similarities in the driving
mechanism, but you also know that there are certain other distinct characteristics
of each.
4.12.5
Common-sense reasoning
Common-sense reasoning is an informal form of reasoning that uses rules gained
through experience or what we call rules-of-thumb. It operates on heuristic
knowledge and heuristic rules.
4.12.6
Non-Monotonic reasoning
Non-Monotonic reasoning is used when the facts of the case are likely to change
after some time, e.g.
Rule:
IF the wind blows
THEN the curtains sway
When the wind stops blowing, the curtains should sway no longer. However, if we
use monotonic reasoning, this would not happen. The fact that the curtains are
swaying would be retained even after the wind stopped blowing. In non-
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monotonic reasoning, we have a `truth maintenance system'. It keeps track of
what caused a fact to become true. If the cause is removed, that fact is removed
(retracted) also.
4.12.7
Inference
Inference is the process of deriving new information from known information. In
the domain of AI, the component of the system that performs inference is called
an inference engine. We will look at inference within the framework of `logic',
which we introduced earlier
4.12.7.1
Logic
Logic, which we introduced earlier, can be viewed as a formal language. As a
language, it has the following components: syntax, semantics and proof systems.
Syntax
Syntax is a description of valid statements, the expressions that are legal in that
language. We have already looked at the syntax of two type of logic systems
called propositional logic and predicate logic. The syntax of proposition gives us
ways to use propositions, their associated truth value and logical connectives to
reason.
Semantics
Semantics pertain to what expressions mean, e.g. the expression `the cat drove
the car' is syntactically correct, but semantically non-sensible.
Proof systems
A logic framework comes with a proof system, which is a way of manipulating
given statements to arrive at new statements. The idea is to derive `new'
information from the given information.
Recall proofs in math class. You write down all you know about the situation and
then try to apply all the rules you know repeatedly until you come up with the
statement you were supposed to prove. Formally, a proof is a sequence of
statements aiming at inferring some information. While doing a proof, you usually
proceed with the following steps:
­You begin with initial statements, called premises of the proof (or knowledge
base)
­Use rules, i.e. apply rules to the known information
­Add new statements, based on the rules that match
Repeat the above steps until you arrive at the statement you wished to prove.
4.12.7.1.1
Rules of inference
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Rules of inference are logical rules that you can use to prove certain things. As
you look at the rules of inference, try to figure out and convince yourself that the
rules are logically sound, by looking at the associated truth tables. The rules we
will use for propositional logic are:
Modus Ponens
Modus Tolens
And-Introduction
And-Elimination
Modus ponens
"Modus ponens" means "affirming method". Note: From now on in our discussion
of logic, anything that is written down in a proof is a statement that is true.
α β
α
β
Modus-
Ponens
Modus Ponens says that if you know that alpha implies beta, and you know alpha
to be true, you can automatically say that beta is true.
Modus Tolens
Modus Tolens says that "alpha implies beta" and "not beta" you can conclude
"not alpha". In other words, if Alpha implies beta is true and beta is known to be
not true, then alpha could not have been true. Had alpha been true, beta would
automatically have been true due to the implication.
α β
¬β
¬α
Modus -
Tolens
And-Introduction and and-Elimination
And-introduction say that from "Alpha" and from "Beta" you can conclude "Alpha
and Beta". That seems pretty obvious, but is a useful tool to know upfront.
Conversely, and-elimination says that from "Alpha and Beta" you can conclude
"Alpha".
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α
α β
β
α
α β
And-
And-
elimination
Introduction
The table below gives the four rules of inference together:
α
α β
α β
α β
β
α
¬β
α
β
¬α
α β
And-
Modus
And-
Modus
elimination
Ponens
Introduction
Tolens
Figure : Table of Rules of Inference
4.12.7.2
Inference example
Now, we will do an example using the above rules. Steps 1, 2 and 3 are added
initially, they are the given facts. The goal is to prove D. Steps 4-8 use the rules
of inference to reach at the required goal from the given rules.
Step
Formula
Derivation
1
Given
AB
2
A→C
Given
3
Given
(B C) →D
4
A
1 And-elimination
5
C
4, 2 Modus Ponens
6
B
1 And-elimination
5, 6 And-introduction
7
B C
8
D
7, 3 Modus Ponens
Note: The numbers in the derivation reference the statements of other step
numbers.
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4.12.7.3
Resolution rule
The deduction mechanism we discussed above, using the four rules of inference
may be used in practical systems, but is not feasible. It uses a lot of inference
rules that introduce a large branch factor in the search for a proof. An alternative
is approach is called resolution, a strategy used to determine the truth of an
assertion, using only one resolution rule:
αβ
¬β γ
α γ
To see how this rule is logically correct, look at the table below:
Α
β
Γ
¬β
α γ
αβ
¬β γ
F
F
F
T
F
T
F
F
F
T
T
F
T
T
F
T
F
F
T
F
F
F
T
T
F
T
T
T
T
F
F
T
T
T
T
T
F
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
F
F
T
F
T
T
T
T
F
T
T
T
You can see that the rows where the premises of the rule are true, the conclusion
of the rule is true also.
To be able to use the resolution rule for proofs, the first step is to convert all given
statements into the conjunctive normal form.
4.12.7.4
Conjunctive normal form
Resolution requires all sentences to be converted into a special form called
conjunctive normal form (CNF). A statement in conjunctive normal form (CNF)
consists of ANDs of Ors. A sentence written in CNF looks like
( A B) (B ∨ ¬C ) (D)
note : D = ( D ∨ ¬D)
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Artificial Intelligence (CS607)
The outermost structure is made up of conjunctions. Inner units called clauses
are made up of disjunctions. The components of a statement in CNF are clauses
and literals. A clause is the disjunction of many units. The units that make up a
clause are called literals. And a literal is either a variable or the negation of a
variable. So you get an expression where the negations are pushed in as tightly
as possible, then you have ORs, then you have ANDs. You can think of each
clause as a requirement. Each clause has to be satisfied individually to satisfy the
entire statement.
4.12.7.5
Conversion to CNF
1. Eliminate arrows (implications)
A B = ¬A B
2. Drive in negations using De Morgan's Laws, which are given below
¬( A B) = (¬A ∧ ¬B)
¬( A B) = (¬A ∨ ¬B)
3. Distribute OR over AND
A (B C)
= ( A B) ( A C )
4.12.7.6
Example of CNF conversion
( A B ) (C D )
1.¬( A B ) (¬C D )
2.(¬A ∧ ¬B ) (¬C D )
3.(¬A ∨ ¬C D ) (¬B ∨ ¬C D )
4.12.7.7
Resolution by Refutation
Now, we will look at a proof strategy called resolution refutation. The steps for
proving a statement using resolution refutation are:
·  Write all sentences in CNF
·  Negate the desired conclusion
·  Apply the resolution rule until you derive a contradiction or cannot apply
the rule anymore.
·  If we derive a contradiction, then the conclusion follows from the given
axioms
·  If we cannot apply anymore, then the conclusion cannot be proved from
the given axioms
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Artificial Intelligence (CS607)
4.12.8
Resolution refutation example 1
Prove C
Ste
Formula
Derivation
p
1
Given
AB
1
AB
2
Given
¬A C
2
A→C
3
Given
¬B C
4
¬C
Negated Conclusion
3
B →C
1, 2
5
BC
6
¬A
2, 4
7
¬B
3, 4
8
C
5, 7 Contradiction!
The statements in the table on the right are the given statements. These are
converted to CNF and are included as steps 1, 2 and 3. Our goal is to prove C.
Step 4 is the addition of the negation of the desired conclusion. Steps 5-8 use the
resolution rule to prove C.
Note that you could have come up with multiple ways of proving R:
Step
Formula
Step
Formula
1
Given
1
Given
AB
AB
2
Given
2
Given
¬A C
¬A C
3
Given
3
Given
¬B C
¬B C
4
¬C
4
¬C
5
¬B
3,4
1,2
5
BC
6
A
1,5
6
¬A
2,4
7
2,6
7
¬B
3,4
C
8
5,7
C
4.12.9
Resolution Refutation Example 2
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Artificial Intelligence (CS607)
1. (A→B) →B
2. A→C
3. ¬C → ¬B
Prove C
Convert to CNF
1.( A B) B
= (¬A B) B
= ¬(¬A B) B
= ( A ∧ ¬B) B
= ( A B) (¬B B)
= ( A B)
2. A C = ¬A C
3.¬C → ¬B = C ∨ ¬B
Proof
Step
Formula
Derivation
Step
Formula
Derivation
1
Given
BA
1
Given
BA
2
Given
¬AC
Given
2
¬AC
3
Given
C ¬B
3
Given
C ¬B
4
¬C
Negation of
Negation of
4
¬C
conclusion
conclusion
5
¬B
3,4
5
A
2,4
6
A
1,5
6
C
2,5
7
C
2,6
4.12.9.1
Proof strategies
As you can see from the examples above, it is often possible to apply more
than one rule at a particular step. We can use several strategies in such
cases. We may apply rules in an arbitrary order, but there are some rules of
thumb that may make the search more efficient
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