Representations of Commonsense Knowledge

Representations of Commonsense Knowledge provides a rich language for expressing commonsense knowledge and inference techniques for carrying out commonsense knowledge. This book provides a survey of the research on commonsense knowledge.

Organized into 10 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the basic ideas on artificial intelligence commonsense reasoning. This text then examines the structure of logic, which is roughly analogous to that of a programming language. Other chapters describe how rules of universal validity can be applied to facts known with absolute certainty to deduce other facts known with absolute certainty. This book discusses as well some prominent issues in plausible inference. The final chapter deals with commonsense knowledge about the interrelations and interactions among agents and discusses some issues in human and social interactions that have been studied in the artificial intelligence literature.

This book is a valuable resource for students on a graduate course on knowledge representation.

Preface

List of Tables

List of Figures

List of Named Axioms

1 Automating Common Sense

1.1 Knowledge Bases

1.2 Methodology

1.3 Implementation

1.4 The Role of Natural Language

1.5 The Role of Logic

1.6 Incomplete and Uncertain Knowledge

1.7 Vagueness

1.8 Indexicals

1.9 Commonsense Reasoning in Artificial Intelligence

1.10 Philosophy

1.11 Mathematics and Commonsense Reasoning

1.12 References

2 Logic

2.1 Logical Systems and Languages

2.2 Propositional Calculus

2.3 Predicate Calculus

2.3.1 Syntax of Predicate Calculus

2.3.2 Tarskian Semantics

2.3.3 Other Issues in First-Order Logic

2.4 Standard First-Order Notations and Theories

2.5 Operators on Sentences

2.6 Extensional Operators

2.7 Modal Logic

2.7.1 Possible-Worlds Semantics

2.7.2 Direct Use of Possible Worlds

2.7.3 Individuals and Modality

2.8 Syntactic Theories

2.8.1 Strings

2.8.2 Paradoxes of Self-Reference

2.9 Appendix A: Natural Deduction

2.10 References

2.11 Exercises

3 Plausible Reasoning

3.1 Nonmonotonic Logic

3.1.1 Nonmonotonicity

3.1.2 Domain-Independent Rules

3.1.3 Circumscription

3.1.4 Default Theory

3.1.5 Preferred Models

3.2 Classical Probability Theory

3.2.1 Bayes's Formula

3.2.2 Possible-Worlds Semantics

3.3 Statistical Inference

3.3.1 Frequency

3.3.2 Independence

3.3.3 Independent Evidence

3.3.4 Maximum Entropy

3.3.5 Sampling

3.3.6 Domain-Specific Knowledge

3.3.7 Conclusion

3.4 References

3.5 Exercises

4 Quantities and Measurements

4.1 Order

4.2 Intervals

4.3 Addition and Subtraction

4.4 Real Valued Scales

4.5 More Arithmetic

4.6 Parameters; Signs; Monotonie Relations

4.7 Derivatives

4.8 Mode Transition Networks

4.9 Qualitative Differential Equations

4.10 Orders of Magnitude

4.11 References

4.12 Exercises

5 Time

5.1 Situations

5.2 Events

5.3 Temporal Reasoning: Blocks World

5.4 The Frame Problem and the Ramification Problem

5.5 The Frame Problem as a Plausible Inference

5.6 Branching Time

5.7 The STRIPS Representation

5.8 Situation Calculus

5.9 Real-Valued Time

5.10 Complex States and Events

5.11 Control Structures

5.12 Modal Temporal Logic

5.13 Tracking the Present Moment

5.14 References

5.15 Exercises

6 Space

6.1 Spatial Inferences: Examples

6.1.1 Set Operations on Regions

6.1.2 Distance

6.1.3 Relative Position

6.1.4 Containment and Fitting

6.1.5 Abutment and Overlapping

6.1.6 Motion

6.1.7 Surface Differential

6.1.8 Other Predicates

6.2 Knowledge Structures

6.2.1 Occupancy

6.2.2 Constructive Solid Geometry

6.2.3 Boundary Representation

6.2.4 Topological Route Maps

6.2.5 Configuration Spaces

6.2.6 The Roller Coaster

6.3 Appendix A: Coordinate Transformations

6.4 Appendix B: Going Through

6.5 References

6.6 Exercises

7 Physics

7.1 The Component Model

7.2 Qualitative-Process Theory

7.3 Rigid Solid Objects

7.4 Liquids

7.5 Physical Agents

7.6 References

7.7 Exercises

8 Minds

8.1 Propositional Attitudes

8.2 Belief

8.2.1 Axioms for Belief

8.2.2 Possible Worlds

8.2.3 Syntactic Formulation

8.3 Degree of Belief

8.4 Knowledge

8.5 Knowing Whether and What

8.6 Minds and Time

8.6.1 Situations and Possible Worlds

8.7 Perceptions

8.8 Realistic Models of Mind

8.9 References

8.10 Exercises

9 Plans and Goals

9.1 Plans as Sequences of Primitive Actions

9.1.1 TWEAK—a Nonlinear Planner

9.2 Extensions

9.3 Plans and Goals as Mental States

9.3.1 Knowledge of Plans and Goals

9.3.2 Knowledge Needed for Plan Execution

9.3.3 Planning and Acting

9.3.4 Reactive Planning

9.3.5 Characteristic Goals

9.4 References

9.5 Exercises

10 Society

10.1 Common Knowledge

10.2 Multiagent Plans

10.3 Communication

10.3.1 Locutionary Descriptions

10.3.2 Illocutionary Speech Acts

10.3.3 Sample Verification of a Plan of Influence

10.4 Ethics

10.5 Possession

10.6 Appendix A: Conceptual Dependency

10.7 References

10.8 Exercises

Bibliography

Glossary

Index of Names

General Index