ATentitiveDefintionofRulesfortheSemanticWeb

Oct 21 2008: the Wikipedia entry for "Knowledge Technologies" deleted recently, we seem to be going backwards ...

Using Inexact Reasoning

The definition of 'rule' can be extended beyond sense of 'exact reasoning' implicit in the business rules definition of the word. A 'rule' in the larger sense could be more than an exact expression of business logic, it could also be a expression of inexact reasoning, such as is a judgment about taking an umbrella along or leaving it behind. Potentially, the decision could include inexact criteria, such as the decision whether to bring along an umbrella for a morning walk on a misty fog-shrouded beach. Of course, the correct answer is "no", for me anyway.

Associations and Associative Networks as Rules

A broader definition of 'rule' can extend well beyond the narrow sense of deductive systems encountered in rule-based "expert" systems and their kin. This broader definition of rules and rule-based technology includes inexact reasoning based on associations inferred between the subjects of a rule. Inference by association uses the inductive and abductive modes of inference and a different set of inference engines, such as associative networks, fuzzy logic, 'case-based reasoning' or any other inferential tools that work by association rather than deductive logic.

Knowledge Based Systems and Knowledge Technology

In this context, the definition of 'rule based systems' is similar to 'knowledge based systems', if more focused on logic inference and less abstract in its application than KBS. In fact, the Wikipedia may have a better name for it than either 'knowledge based systems' or a 'rule based systems', that is knowledge technology ( recently deleted, alas ).

This sounds very close to the 'broader' definition outlined above.

 

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