Knowledge Acquisition

Concepts of
Knowledge Engineering
Knowledge engineering
The engineering discipline in which
knowledge is integrated into computer
systems to solve complex problems that
normally require a high level of human
expertise
Concepts of
Knowledge Engineering
The knowledge-engineering process
1. Knowledge acquisition
2. Knowledge representation
3. Knowledge validation
4. Inferencing
5. Explanation and justification
Concepts of
Knowledge Engineering
Knowledge representation
A formalism for representing facts and rules
in a computer about a subject or specialty
Knowledge validation (verification)
The process of testing to determine
whether the knowledge in an artificial
intelligence system is correct and whether
the system performs with an acceptable
level of accuracy
Concepts of
Knowledge Engineering
The Scope and
Types of Knowledge
Documented knowledge
For ES, stored knowledge sources not
based directly on human expertise
Undocumented knowledge
Knowledge that comes from sources that
are not documented, such as human
experts
The Scope and
Types of Knowledge
Knowledge acquisition from databases
Many ES are constructed from knowledge
extracted in whole or in part from databases
Knowledge acquisition via the Internet
The acquisition, availability, and
management of knowledge via the Internet
are becoming critical success issues for the
construction and maintenance of knowledge-
based systems
The Scope and
Types of Knowledge
Levels of knowledge
Shallow knowledge
A representation of only surface level
information that can be used to deal with
very specific situations
Deep knowledge
A representation of information about the
internal and causal structure of a system that
considers the interactions among the
systems components
The Scope and
Types of Knowledge
The Scope and
Types of Knowledge
Major categories of knowledge
Declarative knowledge
A representation of facts and assertions
Procedural knowledge
Information about courses of action. Procedural
knowledge contrasts with declarative knowledge
Metaknowledge
In an expert system, knowledge about how the
system operates or reasons. More generally,
knowledge about knowledge
Methods of Acquiring
Knowledge from Experts
Elicitation of knowledge
The act of extracting knowledge,
generally automatically, from nonhuman
sources; machine learning
Methods of Acquiring
Knowledge from Experts
Knowledge modeling methods
Manual method
A human-intensive method for knowledge
acquisition, such as interviews and
observations, used to elicit knowledge from
experts
Semiautomatic method
A knowledge acquisition method that uses
computer-based tools to support knowledge
engineers in order to facilitate the process
Methods of Acquiring
Knowledge from Experts
Knowledge modeling methods
Automatic method
An automatic knowledge acquisition method
that involves using computer software to
automatically discover knowledge from a set
of data
Methods of Acquiring
Knowledge from Experts
Manual knowledge modeling methods
Interviews
Interview analysis
An explicit, face-to-face knowledge acquisition technique
that involves a direct dialog between the expert and the
knowledge engineer
Walk-through
In knowledge engineering, a process whereby the expert
walks (or talks) the knowledge engineer through the
solution to a problem
Unstructured (informal) interview
An informal interview that acquaints a knowledge
engineer with an experts problem-solving domain
Methods of Acquiring
Knowledge from Experts
Manual knowledge modeling methods
Structured Interviews
A structured interview is a systematic, goal-
oriented process
It forces organized communication between the
knowledge engineer and the expert
Methods of Acquiring
Knowledge from Experts
Manual knowledge modeling methods
Process tracking
The process of an expert systems tracing
the reasoning process in order to reach a
conclusion
Protocol analysis
A set of instructions governing the format and
control of data in moving from one medium
to another
Observations
Methods of Acquiring
Knowledge from Experts
Automatic knowledge modeling methods
The process of using computers to extract
knowledge from data is called knowledge
discovery
Two reasons for the use of automated
knowledge acquisition:
Good knowledge engineers are highly paid and
difficult to find
Domain experts are usually busy and sometimes
uncooperative
Methods of Acquiring
Knowledge from Experts
Automatic knowledge modeling methods
Typical methods for knowledge discovery
Inductive learning
Neural computing
Genetic algorithms
Acquiring Knowledge
from Multiple Experts
Major purposes of using multiple experts:
To better understand the knowledge domain
To improve knowledge-base validity, consistency,
completeness, accuracy, and relevancy
To provide better productivity
To identify incorrect results more easily
To address broader domains
To be able to handle more complex problems and
combine the strengths of different reasoning
approaches
Acquiring Knowledge
from Multiple Experts
Multiple-expert scenarios
Individual experts
Primary and secondary experts
Small groups
Panels
Acquiring Knowledge
from Multiple Experts
Methods of handling multiple experts
Blend several lines of reasoning through
consensus methods such as Delphi, nominal
group technique (NGT), and group support
systems (GSS)
Automated Knowledge Acquisition
from Data and Documents
The objectives of using automated knowledge
acquisition:
To increase the productivity of knowledge
engineering (reduce the cost)
To reduce the skill level required from the knowledge
engineer
To eliminate (or drastically reduce) the need for an
expert
To eliminate (or drastically reduce) the need for a
knowledge engineer
To increase the quality of the acquired knowledge
Knowledge
Verification and Validation
Knowledge acquired from experts needs
to be evaluated for quality, including:
The main objective of evaluation is to assess
an ESs overall value
Validation is the part of evaluation that deals
with the performance of the system
Verification is building the system right or
substantiating that the system is correctly
implemented to its specifications
Representation of Knowledge
Production rule
A knowledge representation method in
which knowledge is formalized into rules
that have IF parts and THEN parts (also
called conditions and actions,
respectively)
Representation of Knowledge
Major advantages of rules
Rules are easy to understand
Inferences and explanations are easily
derived
Modifications and maintenance are relatively
easy
Uncertainty is easily combined with rules
Each rule is often independent of all others
Representation of Knowledge
Major limitations of rule representation:
Complex knowledge requires thousands of rules,
which may create difficulties in using and maintaining
the system
Builders like rules, so they try to force all knowledge
into rules rather than look for more appropriate
representations
Systems with many rules may have a search
limitation in the control program
Some programs have difficulty evaluating rule-based
systems and making inferences
Representation of Knowledge
Semantic network
A knowledge representation method that
consists of a network of nodes,
representing concepts or objects,
connected by arcs describing the
relations between the nodes
Representation of Knowledge
Representation of Knowledge
Frame
A knowledge representation scheme that
associates one or more features with an object
in terms of slots and particular slot values
Slot
A sub-element of a frame of an object. A slot is a
particular characteristic, specification, or definition
used in forming a knowledge base
Facet
An attribute or a feature that describes the content of
a slot in a frame
Representation of Knowledge
Representation of Knowledge
Inheritance
The process by which one object takes
on or is assigned the characteristics of
another object higher up in a hierarchy
Instantiate
To assign (or substitute) a specific value
or name to a variable in a frame (or in a
logic expression), making it a particular
instance of that variable
Representation of Knowledge
Representation of Knowledge
Representation of Knowledge
Decision table
A table used to represent knowledge and
prepare it for analysis
Representation of Knowledge
Representation of Knowledge
Reasoning in
Intelligent Systems
Commonsense reasoning
The branch of artificial intelligence that is
concerned with replicating human thinking
Reasoning in rule-based systems
Inference engine
The part of an expert system that actually performs
the reasoning function
Rule interpreter
The inference mechanism in a rule-based system
Chunking
A process of dividing and conquering, or dividing
complex problems into subproblems
Reasoning in
Intelligent Systems
Backward chaining
A search technique that uses IF THEN rules
and is used in production systems that begin
with the action clause of a rule and works
backward through a chain of rules in an attempt
to find a verifiable set of condition clauses
Reasoning in
Intelligent Systems
Forward chaining
A data-driven search in a rule-based
system
Explanation
and Metaknowledge
Explanation
An attempt by an ES to clarify its
reasoning, recommendations, or other
actions (e.g., asking a question)
Explanation facility (justifier)
The component of an expert system that
can explain the systems reasoning and
justify its conclusions
Explanation
and Metaknowledge
Why explanations
How explanations
Other explanations
Who
What
Where
When
Why
How
Explanation
and Metaknowledge
Metaknowledge
Static explanation
In an ES, an association of fixed explanation
text with a rule to explain the rules meaning.
Dynamic explanation
In ES, an explanation facility that
reconstructs the reasons for its actions as it
evaluates rules
Inferencing with Uncertainty
Inferencing with Uncertainty
The importance of uncertainty
Uncertainty is a serious problem
Avoiding it may not be the best strategy.
Instead, we need to improve the methods for
dealing with uncertainty
Inferencing with Uncertainty
Representing uncertainty
Numeric representation
Graphic representation
Symbolic representation
Inferencing with Uncertainty
Probabilities and related approaches
Probability ratio
Bayesian approach
Subjective probability
A probability estimated by a manager without the
benefit of a formal model
DempsterShafer theory of evidence
Belief function
The representation of uncertainty without the
need to specify exact probabilities
Inferencing with Uncertainty
Theory of certainty factors
Certainty theory
A framework for representing and working with
degrees of belief of true and false in knowledge-
based systems
Certainty factor (CF)
A percentage supplied by an expert system that
indicates the probability that the conclusion reached
by the system is correct. Also, the degree of belief an
expert has that a certain conclusion will occur if a
certain premise is true
Disbelief
The degree of belief that something is not going to
happen