Inference procedure

An inference procedure is a key component of the knowledge engineering process, sometimes known as abduction. After all preliminary information gathering and modeling is completed, queries are passed to the inference procedure to get answers. In this step, we let the inference procedure operate on the axioms and problem-specific facts to derive the information we are intersted in knowing.

The following is an example inference procedure:

Fred and Mary observe a police cruiser teetering on the tip of a domed building at their university. This is the information we have about our world.

Fred draws on the knowlegde he has and thinks Joe, from mechanical engineering may have been responsible because he dislikes cops and is a master with pulleys. There were many other theories. For examle, Mary thinks that it was dropped from an alien spacecraft. This is the inference procedure, where we determine what could explain the information in our world.

No other hypothesis explains the incident as well as Fred's does.

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Therefore, Fred's hypothesis is probably correct.

See also:

• Abduction (logic)
• Abductive validation