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 Logic & Formal Reasoning


Epistemological Problems of Artificial Intelligence

Classics

"The epistemological part of Al studies what kinds of facts about the world are available to an observer with given opportunities to observe, how these facts can be represented in the memory of a computer, and what rules permit legitimate conclusions to be drawn from these facts. It leaves aside the heuristic problems of how to search spaces of possibilities and how to match patterns."See also: IJCAI 5, 1038-1044In Readings in Artificial Intelligence, B.L. Webber and N.J. Nilsson (eds.), Tioga Publishing, 1981.


The semantics of predicate logic as a programming language

Classics

Sentences in first-order predicate logic can be usefully interpreted as programs. In this paper the operational and fixpoint semantics of predicate logic programs are defined, and the connections with the proof theory and model theory of logic are investigated. It is concluded that operational semantics is a part of proof theory and that fixpoint semantics is a special case of model-theoretic semantics.


Conceptual Graphs for a Data Base Interface

Classics

Abstract: A data base system that supports natural language queries is not really natural if it requires the user to know how the data are represented. This paper defines a formalism, called conceptual graphs, that can describe data according to the user’s view and access data according to the system’s view. In addition, the graphs can represent functional dependencies in the data base and support inferences and computations that are not explicit in the initial query.IBM Journal of Research and Development 20:4, pp. 336-357.



Artificial intelligence meets natural stupidity

Classics

Anyone interested in acting as editor for a special issue of the Newsletter devoted to a particular topic in A! is invited to contact the Editor. Letters to the Editor will be considered as submitted for publication unless they contain a request to the contrary. Technical papers appearing in this issue are unrefereed working papers, and opinions expressed in contributions are to be construed as those of the individual author rather than the official position of SIGART,the ACM, or any organization with which the writer may be affiliated. You are invited to join and participate actively. SIGART membership is open to ACM members upon payment of dues of $3.00 per year and to non-ACM members upon payment of dues of $5.00 per year. To indicate a change of address or to become a member of SIGART, complete the form on the last page of this issue.




The Frame Problem and Related Problems in Artificial Intelligence

Classics

The frame problem arises in attempts to formalise problem--solving processes involving interactions with a complex world. It concerns the difficulty of keeping track of the consequences of the performance of an action in, or more generally of the making of some alteration to, a representation of the world. The paper contains a survey of the problem, showing how it arises in several contexts and relating it to some traditional problems in philosophical logic. In the second part of the paper several suggested partial solutions to the problem are outlined and compared. This comparison necessitates an analysis of what is meant by a representation of a robot's environment.


Doing Arithmetic With Diagrams

Classics

A theorem prover for part of arithmetic in described which proves theorems by representing them in the form of a diagram or network. The nodes of this network represent 'ideal integers', i.e. objects which have all the properties of integers, without being any particular intoger. The links in the network represent relationships between 'ideal integers'. The procedures which draw these diagrams make elementary deductions based on their built-in knowledge of the functions and predicates of arithmetic. This theorem prover is intended as a model of some kinds of human problem-solving behaviour. Also found at EdinburghIn IJCAI-73: THIRD INTERNATIONAL JOINT CONFERENCE ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, 20-23 August 1973, Stanford University Stanford, California.