CHAPTER FOUR

KNOWLEDGE & REASONING

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 Knowledge Base Agent
 Knowledge base agent is an agent that perform action using the
knowledge it has and reason about their action using its inference
procedure.

 Knowledge base is a set of representation of facts and their

relationships called rules about the world.
 The central component of a knowledge-based agent is its
knowledge base, or KB.
 A knowledge base is a set of sentences

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 Cont…
• There must mechanisms to derive new sentences from old ones.
• This process is known as inferencing or reasoning.
• Inference must obey the primary requirement that the new
sentences should follow logically from the previous ones.
• Logic is the primary vehicle for representing and reasoning
about knowledge
 Declarative approach to building an agent (or other system):
 Tell it what it needs to know (Knowledge base)
 Ask what it knows
 Answers should follow from the KB

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 Knowledge-based agent program
• It takes a percept as input, returns an action and
maintains a kb (i.e., initial background
knowledge)
• Each time the agent program is called, it does
three things:
– It TELLs the kb what it perceives
– It ASKs the kb what action it should perform
– The agent program TELLs the kb which action was
chosen, and the agent executes the action

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 Cont…
• A generic knowledge-based agent
• function KB-AGENT(percept) returns an action
persistent: KB, a knowledge base
t, a counter, initially 0, indicating time
TELL(KB, MAKE-PERCEPT-SENTENCE(percept, t))
action ← ASK(KB, MAKE-ACTION-QUERY(t))
TELL(KB, MAKE-ACTION-SENTENCE(action, t))
t←t+1
return action

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 Knowledge Bases Agent
 The agent must be able to:
– Represent states of the world, actions, etc.
– Incorporate new percepts (facts and rules)
– Deduce hidden properties of the world
– Deduce appropriate actions
– Update internal representations of the world

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 Knowledge Bases Agent
 Representation of state of the world using KB
 Example of KB written in that represent a state of a
world in which only Azieb is living (PROLOG
representation)
 Moreover, the required information are gender and age
given name
 FACTS
1.female(azieb).
2.age(azieb, 18).

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 Example
Agent should incorporate new percept
For example,
Azieb get maried with Melaku, they have two kids selam and solomon
This can be reflected by incorporating the new percepts
FACTS  RULE
1.female(azieb). 1. married(X,Y):-married(Y,X).
2.Age(azieb, 18). 2. father(X,Y):-male(X),parent(X,Y).
3.Married(azieb, melaku).
3. mother(X,Y):-
4.male(melaku). female(X),parent(X,Y).
5.female(selam).
4. wife(X,Y):-parent(X,Z),parent(Y,Z).
6.male(solomon).
5. brother(X,Y):-male(X),
7.parent(melaku,selam). parent(Z,X),parent(Z,Y).
8.parent(azieb,selam).
6. sister(X,Y):-female(X),
9.parent(melaku,solomon). parent(Z,X),parent(Z,Y).
10.parent(azieb,solomon).
11.age(melaku,26).
12.age(selam, 5).
8
13.age(solomon, 1).
 Example
The agent should deduce hidden portion of the world like Azieb and Selam
are beautiful.
 If one asks questions like
 ?brother(aster,belay).
 Married(melaku, azieb).
 The system must respond correctly
 Deduce appropriate action to query.
 If one asks questions like
 who is the sister of whom,
 who is the father of belay,
 who is the mother of Selam, etc
 The system must respond correctly
 Agent should update internal representation of the world.
 For example, if died(melaku) is given we should modify any fact
that tells us about live history about melaku. 9
 Knowledge representation
 Knowledge representation refers to the technique how to express
the available facts and rules inside a computer so that agent will
use it to perform well.
 Knowledge representation consists of:
– Syntax (grammar): possible physical configuration that
constitute a sentence (fact or rule) inside the agent
architecture.
• For example one possible syntax rule may be every
sentence must end with full stop.
– Semantics (concept): determine the facts in the world to
which the sentence refers
• Without semantics a sentence is just a sequence of
characters or binary sequences
• Semantic defines the meaning of the sentence

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 Knowledge representation
 E.g., In the language of arithmetic
– x+2 ≥ y is a sentence; x2+y > {} is not a sentence
– x+2 ≥ y is true iff the number x+2 is not less than the number
y
– x+2 ≥ y is true in a world where x = 7, y = 1
– x+2 ≥ y is false in a world where x = 0, y = 6

 Given clear definition of semantics and syntax of a language, we

call that language logical language.
 Knowledge representation is used to represent part of the world
(facts and their association) into ideal computer system
 KB for agent program can be represented using programming
language designed for this purpose like LISP and PROLOG.
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 Model
 Any world in which a sentence is true under a particular interpretation
is called model of that sentence under that interpretation
 We say m is a model of a sentence α if α is true in m
 M(α) is the set of all models of α
 Then KB ╞ α iff M(KB)  M(α)
– E.g. KB = Giants won and Reds won α = Giants won

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 Logic
 Logic is the study of the principles of reasoning and arguments
towards the truth of a given conclusion given premises.

 Logic in AI is the key idea for KB design, KB representation and

inferencing (reasoning)

 Logic is formal languages use for representing information so that

conclusions can be drawn

 Logic is the systematic study of the general conditions of valid

inferences

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 Types of Logic
 In mathematics there are different kinds of logics.
 Some of these according to order of their generality are
 Propositional logic
 First order logic
 Second order logic and more
 First order logic can be used to design, represent or infer for any
environment in the real world.

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 Propositional logic (PL)
 Proposition is statement which is either true or false but not both at
any time.
 A statement is a sentence which is either true or false.
 PL uses declarative sentences only
 PL doesn’t involve quantifiers.
 Not all sentences are statement (interrogatives, imperatives and
exclamatory)
 Proposition can be conditional or unconditional
 Examples
 Socrates is mortal (unconditional)
 If the winter is severe, students will not succeed. (conditional)
 All are the same iff their color is black (conditional)
 In Propositional logic, symbols represent the whole Proposition.
 Examples:
 M = Socrates is mortal
 W = winter is sever
 S = students will not succeed 15
 Con’t…
 There are two types of Propositions:
i. Atomic Propositions
⚫ 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.

Compound propositions
ii.

constructed by combining simpler or atomic propositions,

⚫

using parenthesis and logical connectives.

• Example: "It is raining today, and street is wet."

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Propositional logic (PL)
 Proposition symbols can be combined using Boolean connectives
to generate new Proposition with complex meaning
 Symbols involved in PL:
 Logical constants (TRUE and FALSE)
 Proposition symbols (also called atomic symbols) like M, W, S
 Logical connectives
 (negation),
 (conjunction),
 (disjunction),
 (bi-implication or equivalence),
 (implication) and parenthesis

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Propositional logic (PL)
 Rules
 Logical constants and propositional symbols are sentence by
them selves
 Wrapping parenthesis around a sentence yield a sentence like
(P V Q)
 Literal are atomic symbols or negated atomic symbols
 Complex sentence can be formed by combining simpler
sentences with logical connectors
PL connector priority
 Priority of logical connectives from highest to lowest
 Parenthesis
 Negation
 Conjunction
 Disjunction
 Implication
 Bi-implication 18
 Types of Sentence
 Given a sentence α, this sentence according to the world
considered can be
 Valid (tautology)
 Invalid (contradiction)
 Satisfiable (neither valid nor invalid)
Validity (tautology)
 A sentence is valid iff it is true under any interpretations in all
possible world
 Example: x>4 or x<=4;
 Water boils at 100 degree centigrade
 Human has two legs (may not be valid)
 Books have page number (may not be valid)

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 Satisfiability
 A sentence is satisfiable iff there is some interpretation in some
world for which it is true.
 Every valid sentence is satisfiable
 Example: x+2 = 20
 Every students of AI are in their class
 A sentence which is not satisfiable is unsatisfiable (contradiction
or invalid).

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Entailment
 Entailment means that one thing follows from another:
 It can be represented by ╞ symbol (double turnstyle)
 KB ╞ α shows α can be entailed from KB
 Knowledge base, KB entails sentence α if and only if α is true in
all worlds where KB is true
 E.g., the KB containing “the Giants won” and “the Reds won”
entails “Either the Giants won or the Reds won”
 E.g., x+y = 4 entails 4 = x+y
 E.g., x+y = 4 can’t entails x= 2 and y = 2
 Entailment is a relationship between sentences (i.e., syntax)
that is based on semantics

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 Inference Procedure
 An inference procedure is a procedure used as reasoning engine.
 It can do:
1. Given KB, generate new sentence α that can be entailed by KB
and we call the inference procedure entail α
2. Given KB and α, it will prove whether α is entailed by KB or not
 KB ├i α means sentence α can be derived from KB by procedure i
(|- is called turnstyle or single turnstyle)
 Inference Procedure property
 Soundness: inference procedure i is said to be sound:
if whenever KB ├i α, it is also true that KB╞ α
 A proof system is sound if everything that is provable is in fact true
(if KB ├i α then KB╞ α )
 Completeness: inference procedure i is said to be complete if
whenever KB╞ α, it is also true that KB ├i α
 A proof system is complete if everything that is true has a proof (if
KB╞ α then KB ├i α )
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 Inference Procedure property
 The record of operation of a sound inference procedure is
called a proof
 Soundness of an inference can be established through truth
table.
 For example the inference procedure that entails P from a KB
P which Qconsists¬P
of PQ & Q isPnot
P^Q ∨ sound
Q 𝑃as
→shown
𝑄 bellow
PQ

False False True False False True True

False True True False True False False

True False False False True True False

true true false true true true true

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Complexity of Propositional inference
 The worst case is exponential (2n).
 In this case we can prove using truth table

 Using inference rule we may minimize the time complexity.

 The use of inference rules depends on general principles of logic

called mono-tonicity
 Monotonicity says that the set of entailed sentences can only
increase as information is added to the knowledgebase
 Monotonicity means that inference rules can be applied whenever
suitable premises are found in the knowledge base-the conclusion of
the rule must follow regardless of what else is in the knowledge
base
 For any sentences α and β , if KB1 ╞ α then KB  β ╞ α
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Normal Forms of Logical expression
 There are different standard forms of expressing PL statement.

 Some inference procedure require their knowledge base to be

in one of the normal forms to infer from it.

 Hence, we need to convert the logical expression which are the

source of knowledge into the appropriate forms

 Some of the normal forms are stated bellow

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Normal Forms of Logical expression
• Clausal normal form (disjunction normal form):
– it is a set of one or more literals connected with the
disjunction operator (disjunction of literals).
– It doesn’t allow negation marker except as a prefix to a
symbol
Example ~P  Q  ~R is a clausal form
– According to the definition a single symbol or negation of a
symbol is in clausal form

• Disjunctive normal form (DNF):

– disjunction of conjunction of literals.
Example (A  B) (C  D)

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Normal Forms of Logical expression
• Conjunctive normal forms (CNF):
– Simply defined as a sequences of one or more clauses
connected by the conjunction operator
– Or it is conjunction of clauses
– Or conjunction of disjunction of literals
Example (A  B)  (C D)
– Note: connector is needed if we have two or more
elementary unit to connect to each other to form complex
expression
– This is the basis for the generalized resolution inference
procedure

• Horn form: conjunction of literals implies a literal.

Example (A  B  C D)=>E

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Inference procedure and normal forms
 The inference procedure that we have seen before are all sound
 If KB is represented in CNF, the generalized resolution inference
procedure is complete
 If KB is represented in Horn form, the generalized modes ponens
algorithm is complete
 It can be proved that every sentence of human language can be
represented using logic as CNF. However, it is not possible in
Horn form.
 Therefore, CNF is a more powerful representation technique for
knowledge
 But, Horn form representation of knowledge is easily
understandable and convenient. It also require polynomial time
inference procedure

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 Logical equivalence (1)
 Two sentences are logically equivalent iff they have the same truth
value in all possible world
 Equivalently α ≡ ß iff α╞ β and β╞ α

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 Logical equivalence (2)

 Prove the following using logical equivalence

1. Prove that (P V H)   H)  P is valid
2. Prove that p  q p  q is valid
3. Prove that (pq)  p is a tautology
4. Prove that (pq)  q  pq is valid
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Rules of inference for propositional logic
• Rules of Inferences

24-Dec-24 31
Generalized Resolution for PL
 Given any two clauses A and B, if there are any literal P1 in A which
has a complementary literal P2 in B, delete P1 and P2 from A and B
and construct a disjunction of the remaining clauses.
 The clause constructed is called the resolvent of A and B.
– For example, consider the following clauses
A: PQR
B: ~P  Q  M
C: ~Q  S
 From clause A and B, if we remove P and ~P, it resolves into clause
like
D : Q  R  Q M  Q  R  M .
 If Q of clause D and ~Q of clause C resolved, we get clause
E: R  M  S

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Generalized Resolution for PL
Resolution can also be used to prove a sentence whether it is valid
or not.
That can be done using direct method or indirect method
(refutation)
For example Given a KB consists of the sentences
A: P  Q  R
B: ~P  R
C: ~Q
We need to prove R
Method One (Direct)
Entail D: Q  R from A and B
Entail E: R from D and C
Note: in order to apply resolution for proving a theory, make sure
first all the knowledge is in its clausal form
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 Predicate (First-Order) Logic
– We used propositional logic as our representation language
because it is one of the simplest languages that demonstrates
all the important points

– Unfortunately propositional logic has a very limited ontology,

making only the commitment that the world consists of facts

– First-order logic: makes a stronger set of ontological

commitments

24-Dec-24 34
 Cont…

• First-order logic (FOL) models the world in terms of:

 Objects, which are things with individual identities

 Properties of objects that distinguish them from other

objects

 Relations that hold among sets of objects

 Functions, which are a subset of relations where there

is only one “value” for any given “input”

24-Dec-24 35
 Cont…
• Examples:

 Objects: Students, lectures, companies, cars ...

 Relations: Brother-of, bigger-than, outside, part-of, has-

color, occurs-after, owns, visits, precedes, ...

 Properties: blue, oval, even, large, ...

 Functions: father-of, best-friend, second-half, one-

more-than ...

24-Dec-24 36
 Cont…
• Although FOL commits to the existence of objects and
relations,
 It does not make an ontological commitment to such
things as:
Categories,
Time,
Events, which also seem to show up in most facts
about the world

24-Dec-24 37
SYNTAX AND SEMANTICS of FOL
• In propositional logic every expression is a sentence, which
represents a fact

• FOL has sentences, but it also has terms, which represent objects

• Constant symbols, variables, and function symbols are used to

build terms, and quantifiers and predicate symbols are used to
build sentences
• Constant symbols, which represent individuals in the world
e.g. Mary, 3, Green, A
• Predicate symbols: which map individuals to truth values
e.g. Round, Brother, greater, green
24-Dec-24 38
 Cont…
• Function symbols: which map individuals to individuals
 any given object is related to exactly one other object by the
relation
e.g. Cosine, Tangent, father-of ….
• FOL Provides:
 Variable symbols
e.g. x, y
 Connectives
Same as in PL: not (), and (^), or (V), implies (), if and
only if (bi-conditional )
 Quantifiers
Universal x or (Ax)
Existential x or (Ex)
24-Dec-24 39
Terms, Atomic, and Complex Sentences
• A term is a logical expression that refers to an object
• Terms denote a real-world individual is a constant symbol, a
variable symbol, or an n-place function of n terms
 x and f(x1, ..., xn) are terms, where each xi is a term
 A term with no variables is a ground term, or constants
• For example,
• John (a constant referring to a specific person)
• 5 (a constant referring to the number 5)
• f(John) (if f is a function, and John is a constant, then f(John) is a
ground term because it applies the function to a constant)

24-Dec-24 40
 Cont…
• 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.
e.g. Brother(Richard, John)
 has value true or false
 We can represent atomic sentences as:
• Predicate (term1, term2, , term n).
 Example: Abdi and Ali are brothers: => Brothers(Abdi, Ali)
• Tom is a cat: => cat (Tom).
 Atomic sentences can have arguments that are complex terms:
e.g. Married(FatherOf (Richard),MotherOf (John))
24-Dec-24 41
 Cont…
• Complex sentences

 A complex sentence is formed from atomic sentences

connected by the logical connectives:

P, P V Q, P ^ Q, PQ, PQ where P and Q are

sentences

• A quantified sentence adds quantifiers  and 

24-Dec-24 42
 Quantifiers
• FOL contains two standard quantifiers, called universal and
existential
 Universal quantification ()
(x)P(x) means that P holds for all values of x in the
domain associated with that variable
E.g., (x) dolphin(x)  mammal(x)
 Existential quantification ()
( x)P(x) means that P holds for some value of x in the
domain associated with that variable
E.g., ( x) mammal(x)  lays-eggs(x)
Permits one to make a statement about some object without
naming it

24-Dec-24 43
 Cont…
• Universal quantifiers are often used with “implies” to form
“rules”:

(x) student(x)  smart(x) means “All students are smart”

• Universal quantification is rarely used to make blanket

statements about every individual in the world:

(x)student(x)smart(x) means “Everyone in the world is

a student and is smart”

24-Dec-24 44
 Cont…
• Existential quantifiers are usually used with “and” to
specify a list of properties about an individual:

(x) student(x)  smart(x) means “There is a student who

is smart”

• A common mistake is to represent this FOL sentence with

English:

(x) student(x)  smart(x)

 But what happens when there is a person who is not a

student?

24-Dec-24 45
 Cont…
• Nested quantifiers:
• We will often want to express more complex sentences
using multiple quantifiers
• For example, "For all x and all y, if x is the parent of y then
y is the child of x" becomes
x,y Parent(x,y) => Child(y,x)
• x,y is equivalent to  x y.
• Similarly, the fact that a person's brother has that person as
a sibling is expressed by:
x,y Brother(x,y) => Sibling(y,x)

24-Dec-24 46
 Cont…
• Quantifier Scope:

 Switching the order of universal quantifiers does not change

the meaning:

(x)(y)P(x, y) ↔ (y)(x) P( x, y)

 Similarly, you can switch the order of existential quantifiers:

(x)(y)P(x,y) ↔ (y)(x) P(x,y)

 Switching the order of universal and existential does change
meaning:
Everyone likes someone: (x)(y) likes(x,y)
Someone liked by everyone: (y)(x) likes(x,y)
24-Dec-24 47
 Connections between  and 
• The two quantifiers are actually intimately connected with each
other, through negation.

– when one says that everyone dislikes parsnips,

– one is also saying that there does not exist someone who likes
them; and vice versa:

– We can relate sentences involving  and  using De Morgan’s

laws:

24-Dec-24 48
 Cont…
• Equality

 We can use the equality symbol to make statements to

the effect that two terms refer to the same object

 For example:

Father(John) = Henry

 says that the object referred by Father(John) and the

object referred by Henry are the same.

24-Dec-24 49
 Higher-order logic
• Higher-order logic allows us to quantify over relations and
functions as well as over objects
• For example, in higher-order logic, we can say that two objects are
equal if and only if all properties applied to them are equivalent:
x, y (x = y) & (p p(x)  p(y))
• Or we could say that two functions are equal if and only if they
have the same value for all arguments:
f,g (f = g)  ( x f(x) = g(x))
• Higher-order logics have strictly more expressive power than first-
order logic
• But undecidable: there isn’t an effective algorithm to decide
whether all sentences are valid

24-Dec-24 50
 What is Higher-Order Logic (HOL)
• Higher-Order Logic (HOL) extends first-order logic (FOL) by
allowing quantification over predicates and functions, not just
individuals or objects.
• First-Order Logic (FOL):
In FOL, the variables represent individuals (objects) in the
domain.
• For example:
– ∀x likes(x,y) means "every individual xxx likes some
individual y."
• Higher-Order Logic (HOL):
In HOL, you can quantify not only over individuals, but also over
predicates and functions. This adds another layer of abstraction.
– Example: ∀P P(John), where P is a predicate, and we are
quantifying over the predicate itself.
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Key Differences B/n FOL and HOL:
Feature First-Order Logic (FOL) Higher-Order Logic (HOL)
Quantifies over individuals Quantifies over predicates,
Quantification
(objects). functions, and individuals.
Can express more complex
Limited to properties and relationships, such as
Expressiveness
relations of individuals. quantifying over functions and
sets.

∀f likes(f,x), where f is a
Examples ∀x likes(x,y)
function)

Complex, involving
Simple, no quantification over
Syntax quantification over
functions/predicates.
functions/predicates.
Higher-order logic is
Decidability First-order logic is decidable.
undecidable in general.
52
 Examples of Higher-Order Logic:
• Quantifying over predicates:
– ∀P P(x) : This means "for every predicate P, P holds for
x."
– Here, PPP is a predicate variable, which can stand for
any predicate (such as "is a student", "is a parent",
etc.).
• Quantifying over functions:
– ∀f (f(x)=x+1)): This means "for every function f, f(x)
equals x+1."
– In this case, f is a function variable that represents any
function that takes x as an input.

53
 Example with Functions:
• Let’s say we have the function f that maps people
to their ages.
• f:Person→N, where f(x) gives the age of person x.
• A higher-order logic statement might look like
this:
∀f ∀x (f(x)>0) This means "for every function f
and every person x, the age of x (given by f(x) is
greater than zero."

54
 Use Cases of Higher-Order Logic:
• Mathematics: Higher-order logic is commonly used in set theory,
theories of functions, and mathematical logic, where we need to
quantify over sets, functions, and predicates.

• Computer Science: It is used in functional programming languages

and for formal verification of software, where functions are first-class
citizens and can be quantified over.

• Artificial Intelligence: Higher-order logic can be used for

representing more complex knowledge, especially when dealing with
relations, predicates, and complex functions in knowledge
representation and reasoning.
55
Challenges with Higher-Order Logic:
• Undecidability: Higher-order logic is
undecidable in general, meaning that there is no
algorithm that can determine whether a given
statement in HOL is true or false.
• Complexity: The syntax and semantics of HOL
are more complex than FOL, making it harder to
use and understand.

56
 Expressing uniqueness
• Sometimes we want to say that there is a single, unique
object that satisfies a certain condition

• “There exists a unique x such that king(x) is true”

 x king(x)  y (king(y)  x=y)

 x king(x)  y (king(y)  xy)

 ! x king(x)

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 Cont…
• “Every country has exactly one ruler”

 c country(c)  ! r ruler(c,r)

• Iota operator: “ x P(x)” means “the unique x such that p(x)

is true”

 “The unique ruler of Freedonia is dead”

 dead( x ruler(freedonia,x))

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 The End of chapter four

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Converting to CNF
 Converting the following sentence to CNF:
a  ~ b ↔ c ≡ (a  ~ b) ↔ c

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