Techniques of knowledge representation

There are mainly four ways of knowledge representation which are given as follows:

a) Logical Representation
b) Semantic Network Representation
c) Frame Representation
d) Production Rules
1. Logical Representation
Logical representation is a language with some concrete rules which deals with propositions
and has no ambiguity in representation. Logical representation means drawing a conclusion
based on various conditions. This representation lays down some important communication
rules. It consists of precisely defined syntax and semantics which supports the sound
inference. Each sentence can be translated into logics using syntax and semantics.

Syntax:
✓ Syntaxes are the rules which decide how we can construct legal sentences in the
logic.
✓ It determines which symbol we can use in knowledge representation.
✓ How to write those symbols.

Semantics:
✓ Semantics are the rules by which we can interpret the sentence in the logic.
✓ Semantic also involves assigning a meaning to each sentence.

Logical representation can be categorised into mainly two logics:

a) Propositional Logics
b) Predicate logics

Advantages of logical representation:

1. Logical representation enables us to do logical reasoning.
2. Logical representation is the basis for the programming languages.

Disadvantages of logical Representation:

1. Logical representations have some restrictions and are challenging to work with.
2. Logical representation technique may not be very natural, and inference may not be
so efficient.
2. Semantic Network Representation
Semantic networks are alternative of predicate logic for knowledge representation. In
Semantic networks, we can represent our knowledge in the form of graphical networks. This
network consists of nodes representing objects and arcs which describe the relationship
between those objects. Semantic networks can categorize the object in different forms and
can also link those objects. Semantic networks are easy to understand and can be easily
extended.

This representation consist of mainly two types of relations:

a) IS-A relation (Inheritance)

b) Kind-of-relation

Example: Following are some statements which we need to represent in the form of nodes
and arcs.

Statements:
a) Jerry is a cat.
b) Jerry is a mammal
c) Jerry is owned by Priya.
d) Jerry is brown colored.
e) All Mammals are animal.

In the above diagram, we have represented the different type of knowledge in the form of
nodes and arcs. Each object is connected with another object by some relation.
Drawbacks in Semantic representation:
1. Semantic networks take more computational time at runtime as we need to traverse
the complete network tree to answer some questions. It might be possible in the
worst case scenario that after traversing the entire tree, we find that the solution
does not exist in this network.
2. Semantic networks try to model human-like memory (Which has 1015 neurons and
links) to store the information, but in practice, it is not possible to build such a vast
semantic network.
3. These types of representations are inadequate as they do not have any equivalent
quantifier, e.g., for all, for some, none, etc.
4. Semantic networks do not have any standard definition for the link names.
5. These networks are not intelligent and depend on the creator of the system.

Advantages of Semantic network:

1. Semantic networks are a natural representation of knowledge.
2. Semantic networks convey meaning in a transparent manner.
3. These networks are simple and easily understandable.
3. Frame Representation
A frame is a record like structure which consists of a collection of attributes and its values to
describe an entity in the world. Frames are the AI data structure which divides knowledge
into substructures by representing stereotypes situations. It consists of a collection of slots
and slot values. These slots may be of any type and sizes. Slots have names and values
which are called facets.

Facets: The various aspects of a slot is known as Facets. Facets are features of frames
which enable us to put constraints on the frames. Example: IF-NEEDED facts are called
when data of any particular slot is needed. A frame may consist of any number of slots, and
a slot may include any number of facets and facets may have any number of values. A
frame is also known as slot-filter knowledge representation in artificial intelligence.

Frames are derived from semantic networks and later evolved into our modern-day classes
and objects. A single frame is not much useful. Frames system consist of a collection of
frames which are connected. In the frame, knowledge about an object or event can be
stored together in the knowledge base. The frame is a type of technology which is widely
used in various applications including Natural language processing and machine visions.

Example: 1
Let's take an example of a frame for a book

Slots Filters

Title Artificial Intelligence

Genre Computer Science

Author Peter Norvig

Edition Third Edition

Year 1996

Page 1152

Example 2:
Let's suppose we are taking an entity, Peter. Peter is an engineer as a profession, and his
age is 25, he lives in city London, and the country is England. So following is the frame
representation for this:

Slots Filter

Name Peter

Profession Engineer

Age 25

Marital status Single

Weight 78

Advantages of frame representation:

1. The frame knowledge representation makes the programming easier by grouping the
related data.
2. The frame representation is comparably flexible and used by many applications in AI.
3. It is very easy to add slots for new attribute and relations.
4. It is easy to include default data and to search for missing values.
5. Frame representation is easy to understand and visualize.

Disadvantages of frame representation:

1. In frame system inference mechanism is not be easily processed.
2. Inference mechanism cannot be smoothly proceeded by frame representation.
3. Frame representation has a much generalized approach.
4. Production Rules
Production rules system consist of (condition, action) pairs which mean, "If condition then
action". It has mainly three parts:

o The set of production rules

o Working Memory
o The recognize-act-cycle

In production rules agent checks for the condition and if the condition exists then production
rule fires and corresponding action is carried out. The condition part of the rule determines
which rule may be applied to a problem. And the action part carries out the associated
problem-solving steps. This complete process is called a recognize-act cycle.

The working memory contains the description of the current state of problems-solving and
rule can write knowledge to the working memory. This knowledge match and may fire other
rules.

If there is a new situation (state) generates, then multiple production rules will be fired
together, this is called conflict set. In this situation, the agent needs to select a rule from
these sets, and it is called a conflict resolution.

Example:
o IF (at bus stop AND bus arrives) THEN action (get into the bus)
o IF (on the bus AND paid AND empty seat) THEN action (sit down).
o IF (on bus AND unpaid) THEN action (pay charges).
o IF (bus arrives at destination) THEN action (get down from the bus).

Advantages of Production rule:

1. The production rules are expressed in natural language.
2. The production rules are highly modular, so we can easily remove, add or modify an
individual rule.

Disadvantages of Production rule:

1. Production rule system does not exhibit any learning capabilities, as it does not store
the result of the problem for the future uses.
2. During the execution of the program, many rules may be active hence rule-based
production systems are inefficient.
 Propositional logic in Artificial intelligence
Propositional logic (PL) is the simplest form of logic where all the statements are made by
propositions. A proposition is a declarative statement which is either true or false. It is a
technique of knowledge representation in logical and mathematical form.

Example:
a) It is Sunday.
b) The Sun rises from West (False proposition)
c) 3+3= 7(False proposition)
d) 5 is a prime number.

Following are some basic facts about propositional logic:

✓ Propositional logic is also called Boolean logic as it works on 0 and 1.

✓ In propositional logic, we use symbolic variables to represent the logic, and we can
use any symbol for a representing a proposition, such A, B, D, P, Q, R, etc.
✓ Propositions can be either true or false, but it cannot be both.
✓ Propositional logic consists of an object, relations or function, and logical
connectives.
✓ These connectives are also called logical operators.
✓ The propositions and connectives are the basic elements of the propositional logic.
✓ Connectives can be said as a logical operator which connects two sentences.
✓ A proposition formula which is always true is called tautology T, and it is also called
a valid sentence.
✓ A proposition formula which is always false is called Contradiction C.
✓ A proposition formula which has both true and false values is called
✓ Statements which are questions, commands, or opinions are not propositions such as
"Where is Rohini", "How are you", "What is your name", are not propositions.
 Syntax of propositional logic:
The syntax of propositional logic defines the allowable sentences for the knowledge
representation. There are two types of Propositions:

a) Atomic Propositions
b) Compound propositions

Atomic Proposition: Atomic propositions are the simple propositions. It consists of a

single proposition symbol. These are the sentences which must be either true or false.

Example:

a) 2+2 is 4, it is an atomic proposition as it is a true fact.

b) "The Sun is cold" is also a proposition as it is a false fact.

o Compound proposition: Compound propositions are constructed by combining

simpler or atomic propositions, using parenthesis and logical connectives.

Example:

1. a) "It is raining today, and street is wet."

2. b) "Ankit is a doctor, and his clinic is in Mumbai."

Logical Connectives:
Logical connectives are used to connect two simpler propositions or representing a sentence
logically. We can create compound propositions with the help of logical connectives. There
are mainly five connectives, which are given as follows:

1. Negation: A sentence such as ¬ P is called negation of P. A literal can be either

Positive literal or negative literal.
2. Conjunction: A sentence which has ∧ connective such as, P ∧ Q is called a
conjunction.
Example: Rohan is intelligent and hardworking. It can be written as,
P= Rohan is intelligent,
Q= Rohan is hardworking. → P∧ Q.
3. Disjunction: A sentence which has ∨ connective, such as P ∨ Q. is called
disjunction, where P and Q are the propositions.
Example: "Ritika is a doctor or Engineer",
Here P= Ritika is Doctor. Q= Ritika is Doctor, so we can write it as P ∨ Q.
 4. Implication: A sentence such as P → Q, is called an implication. Implications are
also known as if-then rules. It can be represented as
If it is raining, then the street is wet.
Let P= It is raining, and Q= Street is wet, so it is represented as P → Q
5. Biconditional: A sentence such as P⇔ Q is a Biconditional sentence, example

If I am breathing, then I am alive

P= I am breathing, Q= I am alive, it can be represented as P ⇔ Q.

Following is the summarized table for Propositional Logic

Connectives:

Truth Table:
In propositional logic, we need to know the truth values of propositions in all possible
scenarios. We can combine all the possible combination with logical connectives, and the
representation of these combinations in a tabular format is called Truth table. Following
are the truth table for all logical connectives:
Truth table with three propositions:
We can build a proposition composing three propositions P, Q, and R. This truth table is
made-up of 8n Tuples as we have taken three proposition symbols.

Precedence of connectives:
Just like arithmetic operators, there is a precedence order for propositional connectors or
logical operators. This order should be followed while evaluating a propositional problem.
Following is the list of the precedence order for operators:

Precedence Operators

First Precedence Parenthesis

Second Precedence Negation

Third Precedence Conjunction(AND)

Fourth Precedence Disjunction(OR)

Fifth Precedence Implication

Six Precedence Biconditional

Logical equivalence:
Logical equivalence is one of the features of propositional logic. Two propositions are said to
be logically equivalent if and only if the columns in the truth table are identical to each
other.

Let's take two propositions A and B, so for logical equivalence, we can write it as A⇔B. In
below truth table we can see that column for ¬A∨ B and A→B, are identical hence A is
Equivalent to B

Properties of Operators:
o Commutativity:
o P∧ Q= Q ∧ P, or
o P ∨ Q = Q ∨ P.
o Associativity:
o (P ∧ Q) ∧ R= P ∧ (Q ∧ R),
o (P ∨ Q) ∨ R= P ∨ (Q ∨ R)
o Identity element:
o P ∧ True = P,
o P ∨ True= True.
o Distributive:
o P∧ (Q ∨ R) = (P ∧ Q) ∨ (P ∧ R).
o P ∨ (Q ∧ R) = (P ∨ Q) ∧ (P ∨ R).
o DE Morgan's Law:
o ¬ (P ∧ Q) = (¬P) ∨ (¬Q)
o ¬ (P ∨ Q) = (¬ P) ∧ (¬Q).
o Double-negation elimination:
o ¬ (¬P) = P.
Limitations of Propositional logic:
o We cannot represent relations like ALL, some, or none with propositional logic.
Example:
1. All the girls are intelligent.
2. Some apples are sweet.
o Propositional logic has limited expressive power.
o In propositional logic, we cannot describe statements in terms of their properties or
logical relationships.

Rules of Inference in Artificial intelligence

Inference:
In artificial intelligence, we need intelligent computers which can create new logic from old
logic or by evidence, so generating the conclusions from evidence and facts is
termed as Inference.

Inference rules:
Inference rules are the templates for generating valid arguments. Inference rules are
applied to derive proofs in artificial intelligence, and the proof is a sequence of the
conclusion that leads to the desired goal.

In inference rules, the implication among all the connectives plays an important role.
Following are some terminologies related to inference rules:

o Implication: It is one of the logical connectives which can be represented as P → Q.

It is a Boolean expression.
o Converse: The converse of implication, which means the right-hand side proposition
goes to the left-hand side and vice-versa. It can be written as Q → P.
o Contrapositive: The negation of converse is termed as contrapositive, and it can be
represented as ¬ Q → ¬ P.
o Inverse: The negation of implication is called inverse. It can be represented as ¬ P
→ ¬ Q.

From the above term some of the compound statements are equivalent to each other, which
we can prove using truth table:
Hence from the above truth table, we can prove that P → Q is equivalent to ¬ Q → ¬ P, and
Q→ P is equivalent to ¬ P → ¬ Q.

Types of Inference rules:

1. Modus Ponens:
The Modus Ponens rule is one of the most important rules of inference, and it states that if P
and P → Q is true, then we can infer that Q will be true. It can be represented as:

Example:

Statement-1: "If I am sleepy then I go to bed" ==> P→ Q

Statement-2: "I am sleepy" ==> P
Conclusion: "I go to bed." ==> Q.
Hence, we can say that, if P→ Q is true and P is true then Q will be true.

Proof by Truth table:

2. Modus Tollens:
The Modus Tollens rule state that if P→ Q is true and ¬ Q is true, then ¬ P will also true.
It can be represented as:
Statement-1: "If I am sleepy then I go to bed" ==> P→ Q
Statement-2: "I do not go to the bed."==> ~Q
Statement-3: Which infers that "I am not sleepy" => ~P

Proof by Truth table:

3. Hypothetical Syllogism:
The Hypothetical Syllogism rule state that if P→R is true whenever P→Q is true, and Q→R is
true. It can be represented as the following notation:

Example:

Statement-1: If you have my home key then you can unlock my home. P→Q
Statement-2: If you can unlock my home then you can take my money. Q→R
Conclusion: If you have my home key then you can take my money. P→R

Proof by truth table:

4. Disjunctive Syllogism:
The Disjunctive syllogism rule state that if P∨Q is true, and ¬P is true, then Q will be true. It
can be represented as:

Example:
Statement-1: Today is Sunday or Monday. ==>P∨Q
Statement-2: Today is not Sunday. ==> ¬P
Conclusion: Today is Monday. ==> Q

Proof by truth-table:

5. Addition:
The Addition rule is one the common inference rule, and it states that If P is true, then P∨Q
will be true.

Example:

Statement: I have a vanilla ice-cream. ==> P

Statement-2: I have Chocolate ice-cream.
Conclusion: I have vanilla or chocolate ice-cream. ==> (P∨Q)

Proof by Truth-Table:

6. Simplification:
The simplification rule state that if P∧ Q is true, then Q or P will also be true. It can be
represented as:

Proof by Truth-Table:
7. Resolution:
The Resolution rule state that if P∨Q and ¬ P∧R is true, then Q∨R will also be true. It can
be represented as

Proof by Truth-Table
First-Order Logic in Artificial intelligence
In the topic of Propositional logic, we have seen that how to represent statements using
propositional logic. But unfortunately, in propositional logic, we can only represent the facts,
which are either true or false. PL is not sufficient to represent the complex sentences or
natural language statements. The propositional logic has very limited expressive power.
Consider the following sentence, which we cannot represent using PL logic.

✓ "Some humans are intelligent", or

✓ "Sachin likes cricket."

To represent the above statements, PL logic is not sufficient, so we required some more
powerful logic, such as first-order logic.

First-Order logic:
✓ First-order logic is another way of knowledge representation in artificial intelligence.
It is an extension to propositional logic.
✓ FOL is sufficiently expressive to represent the natural language statements in a
concise way.
✓ First-order logic is also known as Predicate logic or First-order predicate logic.
First-order logic is a powerful language that develops information about the objects
in a more easy way and can also express the relationship between those objects.
✓ First-order logic (like natural language) does not only assume that the world contains
facts like propositional logic but also assumes the following things in the world:

o Objects: A, B, people, numbers, colors, wars, theories, squares, pits,

wumpus, ......
o Relations: It can be unary relation such as: red, round, is adjacent, or n-
any relation such as: the sister of, brother of, has color, comes between
o Function: Father of, best friend, third inning of, end of, ......
o As a natural language, first-order logic also has two main parts:
o Syntax
o Semantics

Syntax of First-Order logic:

The syntax of FOL determines which collection of symbols is a logical expression in first-
order logic. The basic syntactic elements of first-order logic are symbols. We write
statements in short-hand notation in FOL.
Basic Elements of First-order logic:
Following are the basic elements of FOL syntax:

Constant 1, 2, A, John, Mumbai, cat,....

Variables x, y, z, a, b,....

Predicates Brother, Father, >,....

Function sqrt, LeftLegOf, ....

Connectives ∧, ∨, ¬, ⇒, ⇔

Equality ==

Quantifier ∀, ∃

Atomic sentences:
✓ Atomic sentences are the most basic sentences of first-order logic. These sentences
are formed from a predicate symbol followed by a parenthesis with a sequence of
terms.
✓ We can represent atomic sentences as Predicate (term1, term2, ......, term n).

Example: Ravi and Ajay are brothers: => Brothers(Ravi, Ajay).

Chinky is a cat: => cat (Chinky).

Complex Sentences:
o Complex sentences are made by combining atomic sentences using connectives.

First-order logic statements can be divided into two parts:

Subject: Subject is the main part of the statement.

Predicate: A predicate can be defined as a relation, which binds two atoms together in
a statement.

Consider the statement: "x is an integer.", it consists of two parts, the first part x is the
subject of the statement and second part "is an integer," is known as a predicate.
Quantifiers in First-order logic:
o A quantifier is a language element which generates quantification, and quantification
specifies the quantity of specimen in the universe of discourse.
o These are the symbols that permit to determine or identify the range and scope of
the variable in the logical expression. There are two types of quantifier:
1. Universal Quantifier, (for all, everyone, everything)
2. Existential quantifier, (for some, at least one).

Universal Quantifier:
Universal quantifier is a symbol of logical representation, which specifies that the statement
within its range is true for everything or every instance of a particular thing.

The Universal quantifier is represented by a symbol ∀, which resembles an inverted A.

Note: In universal quantifier we use implication "→".

If x is a variable, then ∀x is read as:

o For all x
o For each x
o For every x.

Example:
All man drink coffee.

Let a variable x which refers to a cat so all x can be represented in UOD as below:
∀x man(x) → drink (x, coffee).

It will be read as: There are all x where x is a man who drink coffee.

Existential Quantifier:
Existential quantifiers are the type of quantifiers, which express that the statement within
its scope is true for at least one instance of something.

It is denoted by the logical operator ∃, which resembles as inverted E. When it is used with
a predicate variable then it is called as an existential quantifier.

Note: In Existential quantifier we always use AND or Conjunction symbol (∧).

If x is a variable, then existential quantifier will be ∃x or ∃(x). And it will be read as:

o There exists a 'x.'

o For some 'x.'
o For at least one 'x.'

Example:
Some boys are intelligent.
∃x: boys(x) ∧ intelligent(x)

It will be read as: There are some x where x is a boy who is intelligent.

Points to remember:
o The main connective for universal quantifier ∀ is implication →.
o The main connective for existential quantifier ∃ is and ∧.

Properties of Quantifiers:
o In universal quantifier, ∀x∀y is similar to ∀y∀x.
o In Existential quantifier, ∃x∃y is similar to ∃y∃x.
o ∃x∀y is not similar to ∀y∃x.

Some Examples of FOL using quantifier:

1. All birds fly.

In this question the predicate is "fly(bird)."
And since there are all birds who fly so it will be represented as follows.
∀x bird(x) →fly(x).

2. Every man respects his parent.

In this question, the predicate is "respect(x, y)," where x=man, and y= parent.
Since there is every man so will use ∀, and it will be represented as follows:
∀x man(x) → respects (x, parent).

3. Some boys play cricket.

In this question, the predicate is "play(x, y)," where x= boys, and y= game. Since there
are some boys so we will use ∃, and it will be represented as:
∃x boys(x) → play(x, cricket).

4. Not all students like both Mathematics and Science.

In this question, the predicate is "like(x, y)," where x= student, and y= subject.
Since there are not all students, so we will use ∀ with negation, so following
representation for this:
¬∀ (x) [ student(x) → like(x, Mathematics) ∧ like(x, Science)].

5. Only one student failed in Mathematics.

In this question, the predicate is "failed(x, y)," where x= student, and y= subject.
Since there is only one student who failed in Mathematics, so we will use following
representation for this:
∃(x) [ student(x) → failed (x, Mathematics) ∧∀ (y) [¬(x==y) ∧ student(y)
→ ¬failed (x, Mathematics)].

Free and Bound Variables:

The quantifiers interact with variables which appear in a suitable way. There are two types
of variables in First-order logic which are given below:

Free Variable: A variable is said to be a free variable in a formula if it occurs outside the
scope of the quantifier.

Example: ∀x ∃(y)[P (x, y, z)], where z is a free variable.

Bound Variable: A variable is said to be a bound variable in a formula if it occurs within

the scope of the quantifier.

Example: ∀x [A (x) B( y)], here x and y are the bound variables.