Knowledge Representation and Reasoning 2011-2012

Last year web page

Previous exam papers and answers

Module feedback (average exam marks etc.)

The module describes how knowledge can be represented symbolically and manipulated in an automated way by reasoning programs. It will be based on the following textbook: Ronald Brachman and Hector Levesque. Knowledge Representation and Reasoning. Elsevier, 2004. There are several copies in the Jubilee Library, location Q387 BRA.

Hector Levesque's on-line lecture slides based on the book
local copy

Lectures

• Lecture 1 (Introduction, what are knowledge based systems)
• Lecture 2: syntax and semantics of first-order logic. See Levesque's slides 18-27 , textbook chapter 2.1 - 2.3.2.
• Lecture 3: semantics of first-order logic, logical entailment. See Levesque's slides 28-34, textbook the rest of chapter 2.
  Barber exercise
  Answer to the barber exercise
• Lecture 4: expressing knolwedge in first-order logic. See Levesque's slides 35-45 , textbook chapter 3.
  Alpine Club exercise
  Answer to the Alpine Club exercise
• Lecture 5: answer to Alpine Club exercise and begin Resolution (textbook chapter 4, Levesque slides from slide 46).
• Lecture 6: propositional resolution, chapter 4.1, slides 46-55.

  Exercise on propositional reduction to CNF
  Answer to the exercise
  Exercise on propositional resolution
  Answer to the exercise

• Lecture 7: Resolution continued. First-order case.
  Exercise on first-order resolution.
  Solution to the exercise
  Exercise on answer extraction
  Solution to the exercise
• Lecture 8: continue first-order resolution (Skolemisation, unification...)
• Lecture 9: handling equality. Complexity of resolution.
• Lecture 10: Horn clauses. SLD resolution. Backward chaining. Chapter 5, slides 79-90.
• Lecture 11: Horn clauses continued. Forward chaining.
• Lecture 12: Prolog. Chapter 6, slides 91-100. If you want to try Prolog, it is installed on clyde, type sicstus at command prompt. User manual is here .
• Lecture 13: Rules in production systems. Chapter 7, slides 89, 103-118.
  As an exercise, you can do question 4(b) from 2008 exam.
  Link to all exams and answers
• Lecture 14: Life cycle of a knowledge based system. Knowledge acquisition. Decision tables. Java Rules API and Jess. Lecture slides
• 28/11 Lecture 15: Description logic. Chapter 9, slides 138-163.
  Summary of technical definitions and an exercise
  Answer to the exercise
  See also exam papers 2010: question 3, 2009: question 4, 2008: question 5.
• 29/11 Lecture 16: Description logic continued.
• 5/12 Lecture 17: Non-monotonic reasoning. Chapter 11, slides 178-201.
• 6/12 Lecture 18: Non-monotonic reasoning continued.
  Summary of lectures 16 and 17
  See also exam papers 2010: question 5, 2009: question 5, 2008: question 6.
• 12/12 Lecture 19: Bayesian networks. Chapter 12, slides 202-216.
  Summary of Bayesian networks and an exercise
• 13/12 Lecture 20: revision.