Knowledge-Based Agent in

Artificial intelligence
o An intelligent agent needs knowledge about the real world for taking
decisions and reasoning to act efficiently.
o Knowledge-based agents are those agents who have the capability
of maintaining an internal state of knowledge, reason over that
knowledge, update their knowledge after observations and take
actions. These agents can represent the world with some formal
representation and act intelligently.
o Knowledge-based agents are composed of two main parts:
o Knowledge-base and
o Inference system.

A knowledge-based agent must able to do the following:

o An agent should be able to represent states, actions, etc.

o An agent Should be able to incorporate new percepts
o An agent can update the internal representation of the world
o An agent can deduce the internal representation of the world
o An agent can deduce appropriate actions.

The architecture of knowledge-based

agent:
The above diagram is representing a generalized architecture for a knowledge-
based agent. The knowledge-based agent (KBA) take input from the environment
by perceiving the environment. The input is taken by the inference engine of the
agent and which also communicate with KB to decide as per the knowledge store in
KB. The learning element of KBA regularly updates the KB by learning new
knowledge.

Knowledge base: Knowledge-base is a central component of a knowledge-based

agent, it is also known as KB. It is a collection of sentences (here 'sentence' is a
technical term and it is not identical to sentence in English). These sentences are
expressed in a language which is called a knowledge representation language. The
Knowledge-base of KBA stores fact about the world.

Why use a knowledge base?

Knowledge-base is required for updating knowledge for an agent to learn with
experiences and take action as per the knowledge.

Inference system
Inference means deriving new sentences from old. Inference system allows us to
add a new sentence to the knowledge base. A sentence is a proposition about the
world. Inference system applies logical rules to the KB to deduce new information.
 Inference system generates new facts so that an agent can update the KB. An
inference system works mainly in two rules which are given as:

o Forward chaining
o Backward chaining

Operations Performed by KBA

Following are three operations which are performed by KBA in order to
show the intelligent behavior:

1. TELL: This operation tells the knowledge base what it perceives from the
environment.
2. ASK: This operation asks the knowledge base what action it should perform.
3. Perform: It performs the selected action.

A generic knowledge-based agent:

Following is the structure outline of a generic knowledge-based agents program:

1. function KB-AGENT(percept):
2. persistent: KB, a knowledge base
3. t, a counter, initially 0, indicating time
4. TELL(KB, MAKE-PERCEPT-SENTENCE(percept, t))
5. Action = ASK(KB, MAKE-ACTION-QUERY(t))
6. TELL(KB, MAKE-ACTION-SENTENCE(action, t))
7. t = t + 1
8. return action

The knowledge-based agent takes percept as input and returns an action as output.
The agent maintains the knowledge base, KB, and it initially has some background
knowledge of the real world. It also has a counter to indicate the time for the whole
process, and this counter is initialized with zero.

Each time when the function is called, it performs its three operations:

o Firstly it TELLs the KB what it perceives.

o Secondly, it asks KB what action it should take
o Third agent program TELLS the KB that which action was chosen.
The MAKE-PERCEPT-SENTENCE generates a sentence as setting that the agent
perceived the given percept at the given time.

The MAKE-ACTION-QUERY generates a sentence to ask which action should be

done at the current time.

MAKE-ACTION-SENTENCE generates a sentence which asserts that the chosen

action was executed.

Various levels of knowledge-based

agent:
A knowledge-based agent can be viewed at different levels which are given below:

1. Knowledge level
Knowledge level is the first level of knowledge-based agent, and in this level, we
need to specify what the agent knows, and what the agent goals are. With these
specifications, we can fix its behavior. For example, suppose an automated taxi
agent needs to go from a station A to station B, and he knows the way from A to B,
so this comes at the knowledge level.

2. Logical level:
At this level, we understand that how the knowledge representation of knowledge is
stored. At this level, sentences are encoded into different logics. At the logical level,
an encoding of knowledge into logical sentences occurs. At the logical level we can
expect to the automated taxi agent to reach to the destination B.

3. Implementation level:
This is the physical representation of logic and knowledge. At the implementation
level agent perform actions as per logical and knowledge level. At this level, an
automated taxi agent actually implement his knowledge and logic so that he can
reach to the destination.

Approaches to designing a knowledge-

based agent:
There are mainly two approaches to build a knowledge-based agent:
 1. 1. Declarative approach: We can create a knowledge-based agent by
initializing with an empty knowledge base and telling the agent all the
sentences with which we want to start with. This approach is called
Declarative approach.
2. 2. Procedural approach: In the procedural approach, we directly encode
desired behavior as a program code. Which means we just need to write a
program that already encodes the desired behavior or agent.

However, in the real world, a successful agent can be built by combining both
declarative and procedural approaches, and declarative knowledge can often be
compiled into more efficient procedural code.

What is knowledge
representation?
Humans are best at understanding, reasoning, and interpreting knowledge. Human
knows things, which is knowledge and as per their knowledge they perform various
actions in the real world. But how machines do all these things comes under
knowledge representation and reasoning. Hence we can describe Knowledge
representation as following:

o Knowledge representation and reasoning (KR, KRR) is the part of Artificial

intelligence which concerned with AI agents thinking and how thinking
contributes to intelligent behavior of agents.
o It is responsible for representing information about the real world so that a
computer can understand and can utilize this knowledge to solve the complex
real world problems such as diagnosis a medical condition or communicating
with humans in natural language.
o It is also a way which describes how we can represent knowledge in artificial
intelligence. Knowledge representation is not just storing data into some
database, but it also enables an intelligent machine to learn from that
knowledge and experiences so that it can behave intelligently like a human.

What to Represent:
Following are the kind of knowledge which needs to be represented in AI systems:
 o Object: All the facts about objects in our world domain. E.g., Guitars
contains strings, trumpets are brass instruments.
o Events: Events are the actions which occur in our world.
o Performance: It describe behavior which involves knowledge about how to
do things.
o Meta-knowledge: It is knowledge about what we know.
o Facts: Facts are the truths about the real world and what we represent.
o Knowledge-Base: The central component of the knowledge-based agents is
the knowledge base. It is represented as KB. The Knowledgebase is a group
of the Sentences (Here, sentences are used as a technical term and not
identical with the English language).

Knowledge: Knowledge is awareness or familiarity gained by experiences of facts,

data, and situations. Following are the types of knowledge in artificial intelligence:

Types of knowledge
Following are the various types of knowledge:
1. Declarative Knowledge:

o Declarative knowledge is to know about something.

o It includes concepts, facts, and objects.
o It is also called descriptive knowledge and expressed in declarativesentences.
o It is simpler than procedural language.

2. Procedural Knowledge

o It is also known as imperative knowledge.

o Procedural knowledge is a type of knowledge which is responsible for
knowing how to do something.
o It can be directly applied to any task.
o It includes rules, strategies, procedures, agendas, etc.
o Procedural knowledge depends on the task on which it can be applied.

3. Meta-knowledge:

o Knowledge about the other types of knowledge is called Meta-knowledge.

4. Heuristic knowledge:

o Heuristic knowledge is representing knowledge of some experts in a filed or

subject.
o Heuristic knowledge is rules of thumb based on previous experiences,
awareness of approaches, and which are good to work but not guaranteed.

5. Structural knowledge:

o Structural knowledge is basic knowledge to problem-solving.

o It describes relationships between various concepts such as kind of, part of,
and grouping of something.
o It describes the relationship that exists between concepts or objects.

The relation between knowledge and

intelligence:
Knowledge of real-worlds plays a vital role in intelligence and same for creating
artificial intelligence. Knowledge plays an important role in demonstrating intelligent
behavior in AI agents. An agent is only able to accurately act on some input when
he has some knowledge or experience about that input.

Let's suppose if you met some person who is speaking in a language which you
don't know, then how you will able to act on that. The same thing applies to the
intelligent behavior of the agents.

As we can see in below diagram, there is one decision maker which act by sensing
the environment and using knowledge. But if the knowledge part will not present
then, it cannot display intelligent behavior.

AI knowledge cycle:
An Artificial intelligence system has the following components for displaying
intelligent behavior:

o Perception
o Learning
o Knowledge Representation and Reasoning
o Planning
o Execution
The above diagram is showing how an AI system can interact with the real world
and what components help it to show intelligence. AI system has Perception
component by which it retrieves information from its environment. It can be visual,
audio or another form of sensory input. The learning component is responsible for
learning from data captured by Perception comportment. In the complete cycle, the
main components are knowledge representation and Reasoning. These two
components are involved in showing the intelligence in machine-like humans. These
two components are independent with each other but also coupled together. The
planning and execution depend on analysis of Knowledge representation and
reasoning.

Approaches to knowledge
representation:
There are mainly four approaches to knowledge representation, which are given
below:

1. Simple relational knowledge:

o It is the simplest way of storing facts which uses the relational method, and
each fact about a set of the object is set out systematically in columns.
o This approach of knowledge representation is famous in database systems
where the relationship between different entities is represented.
o This approach has little opportunity for inference.
Example: The following is the simple relational knowledge representation.

Player Weight Age

Player1 65 23

Player2 58 18

Player3 75 24

2. Inheritable knowledge:
o In the inheritable knowledge approach, all data must be stored into a
hierarchy of classes.
o All classes should be arranged in a generalized form or a hierarchal manner.
o In this approach, we apply inheritance property.
o Elements inherit values from other members of a class.
o This approach contains inheritable knowledge which shows a relation
between instance and class, and it is called instance relation.
o Every individual frame can represent the collection of attributes and its value.
o In this approach, objects and values are represented in Boxed nodes.
o We use Arrows which point from objects to their values.
o Example:
3. Inferential knowledge:
o Inferential knowledge approach represents knowledge in the form of formal
logics.
o This approach can be used to derive more facts.
o It guaranteed correctness.
o Example: Let's suppose there are two statements:

a. Marcus is a man
b. All men are mortal
Then it can represent as;

man(Marcus)
∀x = man (x) ----------> mortal (x)s

4. Procedural knowledge:
o Procedural knowledge approach uses small programs and codes which
describes how to do specific things, and how to proceed.
 o In this approach, one important rule is used which is If-Then rule.
o In this knowledge, we can use various coding languages such as LISP
language and Prolog language.
o We can easily represent heuristic or domain-specific knowledge using this
approach.
o But it is not necessary that we can represent all cases in this approach.

Requirements for knowledge

Representation system:
A good knowledge representation system must possess the following properties.

1. Representational Accuracy:
KR system should have the ability to represent all kind of required
knowledge.

2. Inferential Adequacy:
KR system should have ability to manipulate the representational structures
to produce new knowledge corresponding to existing structure.

3. Inferential Efficiency:
The ability to direct the inferential knowledge mechanism into the most
productive directions by storing appropriate guides.

4. Acquisitional efficiency- The ability to acquire the new knowledge easily

using automatic methods.

Techniques of knowledge
representation
There are mainly four ways of knowledge representation which are given as follows:

1. Logical Representation
2. Semantic Network Representation
3. Frame Representation
 4. Production Rules

1. Logical Representation
Logical representation is a language with some concrete rules which deals with
propositions and has no ambiguity in representation. Logical representation means
drawing a conclusion based on various conditions. This representation lays down
some important communication rules. It consists of precisely defined syntax and
semantics which supports the sound inference. Each sentence can be translated
into logics using syntax and semantics.

Syntax:
o Syntaxes are the rules which decide how we can construct legal sentences in
the logic.
o It determines which symbol we can use in knowledge representation.
o How to write those symbols.

Semantics:
o Semantics are the rules by which we can interpret the sentence in the logic.
o Semantic also involves assigning a meaning to each sentence.
Logical representation can be categorised into mainly two logics:

a. Propositional Logics
b. Predicate logics

Note: We will discuss Prepositional Logics and Predicate logics in later chapters.

Advantages of logical representation:

1. Logical representation enables us to do logical reasoning.
2. Logical representation is the basis for the programming languages.

Disadvantages of logical Representation:

1. Logical representations have some restrictions and are challenging to work
with.
2. Logical representation technique may not be very natural, and inference may
not be so efficient.

Note: Do not be confused with logical representation and logical reasoning as logical
representation is a representation language and reasoning is a process of thinking
logically.

2. Semantic Network Representation

Semantic networks are alternative of predicate logic for knowledge representation.
In Semantic networks, we can represent our knowledge in the form of graphical
networks. This network consists of nodes representing objects and arcs which
describe the relationship between those objects. Semantic networks can categorize
the object in different forms and can also link those objects. Semantic networks are
easy to understand and can be easily extended.

This representation consist of mainly two types of relations:

a. IS-A relation (Inheritance)

b. Kind-of-relation

Example: Following are some statements which we need to represent in the form
of nodes and arcs.
Statements:
a. Jerry is a cat.
b. Jerry is a mammal
c. Jerry is owned by Priya.
d. Jerry is brown colored.
e. All Mammals are animal.

In the above diagram, we have represented the different type of knowledge in the
form of nodes and arcs. Each object is connected with another object by some
relation.

Drawbacks in Semantic representation:

1. Semantic networks take more computational time at runtime as we need to
traverse the complete network tree to answer some questions. It might be
possible in the worst case scenario that after traversing the entire tree, we
find that the solution does not exist in this network.
2. Semantic networks try to model human-like memory (Which has 1015
neurons and links) to store the information, but in practice, it is not possible
to build such a vast semantic network.
 3. These types of representations are inadequate as they do not have any
equivalent quantifier, e.g., for all, for some, none, etc.
4. Semantic networks do not have any standard definition for the link names.
5. These networks are not intelligent and depend on the creator of the system.

Advantages of Semantic network:

1. Semantic networks are a natural representation of knowledge.
2. Semantic networks convey meaning in a transparent manner.
3. These networks are simple and easily understandable.

3. Frame Representation
A frame is a record like structure which consists of a collection of attributes and its
values to describe an entity in the world. Frames are the AI data structure which
divides knowledge into substructures by representing stereotypes situations. It
consists of a collection of slots and slot values. These slots may be of any type and
sizes. Slots have names and values which are called facets.

Facets: The various aspects of a slot is known as Facets. Facets are features of
frames which enable us to put constraints on the frames. Example: IF-NEEDED
facts are called when data of any particular slot is needed. A frame may consist of
any number of slots, and a slot may include any number of facets and facets may
have any number of values. A frame is also known as slot-filter knowledge
representation in artificial intelligence.

Frames are derived from semantic networks and later evolved into our modern-day
classes and objects. A single frame is not much useful. Frames system consist of a
collection of frames which are connected. In the frame, knowledge about an object
or event can be stored together in the knowledge base. The frame is a type of
technology which is widely used in various applications including Natural language
processing and machine visions.

Example: 1
Let's take an example of a frame for a book

Slots Filters
 Title Artificial Intelligence

Genre Computer Science

Author Peter Norvig

Edition Third Edition

Year 1996

Page 1152

Example 2:
Let's suppose we are taking an entity, Peter. Peter is an engineer as a profession,
and his age is 25, he lives in city London, and the country is England. So following
is the frame representation for this:

Slots Filter

Name Peter

Profession Doctor

Age 25

Marital status Single

Weight 78

Advantages of frame representation:

1. The frame knowledge representation makes the programming easier by
grouping the related data.
2. The frame representation is comparably flexible and used by many
applications in AI.
 3. It is very easy to add slots for new attribute and relations.
4. It is easy to include default data and to search for missing values.
5. Frame representation is easy to understand and visualize.

Disadvantages of frame representation:

1. In frame system inference mechanism is not be easily processed.
2. Inference mechanism cannot be smoothly proceeded by frame
representation.
3. Frame representation has a much generalized approach.

4. Production Rules
Production rules system consist of (condition, action) pairs which mean, "If
condition then action". It has mainly three parts:

o The set of production rules

o Working Memory
o The recognize-act-cycle

In production rules agent checks for the condition and if the condition exists then
production rule fires and corresponding action is carried out. The condition part of
the rule determines which rule may be applied to a problem. And the action part
carries out the associated problem-solving steps. This complete process is called a
recognize-act cycle.

The working memory contains the description of the current state of problems-
solving and rule can write knowledge to the working memory. This knowledge
match and may fire other rules.

If there is a new situation (state) generates, then multiple production rules will be
fired together, this is called conflict set. In this situation, the agent needs to select
a rule from these sets, and it is called a conflict resolution.

Example:
o IF (at bus stop AND bus arrives) THEN action (get into the bus)
o IF (on the bus AND paid AND empty seat) THEN action (sit down).
o IF (on bus AND unpaid) THEN action (pay charges).
 o IF (bus arrives at destination) THEN action (get down from the bus).

Advantages of Production rule:

1. The production rules are expressed in natural language.
2. The production rules are highly modular, so we can easily remove, add or
modify an individual rule.

Disadvantages of Production rule:

1. Production rule system does not exhibit any learning capabilities, as it does
not store the result of the problem for the future uses.
2. During the execution of the program, many rules may be active hence rule-
based production systems are inefficient.

Reasoning in Artificial intelligence

In previous topics, we have learned various ways of knowledge representation in
artificial intelligence. Now we will learn the various ways to reason on this
knowledge using different logical schemes.

Propositional logic in Artificial

intelligence
Propositional logic (PL) is the simplest form of logic where all the statements are made by
propositions. A proposition is a declarative statement which is either true or false. It is a
technique of knowledge representation in logical and mathematical form.

Example:

1. a) It is Sunday.
2. b) The Sun rises from West (False proposition)
3. c) 3+3= 7(False proposition)
4. d) 5 is a prime number.

Following are some basic facts about propositional logic:

o Propositional logic is also called Boolean logic as it works on 0 and 1.

 o In propositional logic, we use symbolic variables to represent the logic, and we can
use any symbol for a representing a proposition, such A, B, C, P, Q, R, etc.
o Propositions can be either true or false, but it cannot be both.
o Propositional logic consists of an object, relations or function, and logical
connectives.
o These connectives are also called logical operators.
o The propositions and connectives are the basic elements of the propositional logic.
o Connectives can be said as a logical operator which connects two sentences.
o A proposition formula which is always true is called tautology, and it is also called a
valid sentence.
o A proposition formula which is always false is called Contradiction.
o A proposition formula which has both true and false values is called
o Statements which are questions, commands, or opinions are not propositions such as
"Where is Rohini", "How are you", "What is your name", are not propositions.

Syntax of propositional logic:

The syntax of propositional logic defines the allowable sentences for the knowledge
representation. There are two types of Propositions:

a. Atomic Propositions
b. Compound propositions

o Atomic Proposition: Atomic propositions are the simple propositions. It consists of

a single proposition symbol. These are the sentences which must be either true or
false.

Example:

1. a) 2+2 is 4, it is an atomic proposition as it is a true fact.

2. b) "The Sun is cold" is also a proposition as it is a false fact.

o Compound proposition: Compound propositions are constructed by combining

simpler or atomic propositions, using parenthesis and logical connectives.

Example:

1. a) "It is raining today, and street is wet."

2. b) "Ankit is a doctor, and his clinic is in Mumbai."
Logical Connectives:
Logical connectives are used to connect two simpler propositions or representing a sentence
logically. We can create compound propositions with the help of logical connectives. There
are mainly five connectives, which are given as follows:

1. Negation: A sentence such as ¬ P is called negation of P. A literal can be either

Positive literal or negative literal.
2. Conjunction: A sentence which has ∧ connective such as, P ∧ Q is called a
conjunction.
Example: Rohan is intelligent and hardworking. It can be written as,
P= Rohan is intelligent,
Q= Rohan is hardworking. → P∧ Q.
3. Disjunction: A sentence which has ∨ connective, such as P ∨ Q. is called
disjunction, where P and Q are the propositions.
Example: "Ritika is a doctor or Engineer",
Here P= Ritika is Doctor. Q= Ritika is Doctor, so we can write it as P ∨ Q.
4. Implication: A sentence such as P → Q, is called an implication. Implications are
also known as if-then rules. It can be represented as
If it is raining, then the street is wet.
Let P= It is raining, and Q= Street is wet, so it is represented as P → Q
5. Biconditional: A sentence such as P⇔ Q is a Biconditional sentence, example If
I am breathing, then I am alive
P= I am breathing, Q= I am alive, it can be represented as P ⇔ Q.

Following is the summarized table for Propositional

Logic Connectives:

Truth Table:
In propositional logic, we need to know the truth values of propositions in all possible
scenarios. We can combine all the possible combination with logical connectives, and the
representation of these combinations in a tabular format is called Truth table. Following
are the truth table for all logical connectives:
Truth table with three propositions:
We can build a proposition composing three propositions P, Q, and R. This truth table is
made-up of 8n Tuples as we have taken three proposition symbols.

Precedence of connectives:
Just like arithmetic operators, there is a precedence order for propositional connectors or
logical operators. This order should be followed while evaluating a propositional problem.
Following is the list of the precedence order for operators:

Precedence Operators

First Precedence Parenthesis

Second Precedence Negation

Third Precedence Conjunction(AND)

Fourth Precedence Disjunction(OR)

Fifth Precedence Implication

Six Precedence Biconditional

Note: For better understanding use parenthesis to make sure of the correct interpretations.
Such as ¬R∨ Q, It can be interpreted as (¬R) ∨ Q.

Logical equivalence:
Logical equivalence is one of the features of propositional logic. Two propositions are said to
be logically equivalent if and only if the columns in the truth table are identical to each
other.

Let's take two propositions A and B, so for logical equivalence, we can write it as A⇔B. In
below truth table we can see that column for ¬A∨ B and A→B, are identical hence A is
Equivalent to B

Properties of Operators:
o Commutativity:
o P∧ Q= Q ∧ P, or
o P ∨ Q = Q ∨ P.
o Associativity:
o (P ∧ Q) ∧ R= P ∧ (Q ∧ R),
o (P ∨ Q) ∨ R= P ∨ (Q ∨ R)
o Identity element:
o P ∧ True = P,
o P ∨ True= True.
o Distributive:
o P∧ (Q ∨ R) = (P ∧ Q) ∨ (P ∧ R).
o P ∨ (Q ∧ R) = (P ∨ Q) ∧ (P ∨ R).
o DE Morgan's Law:
o ¬ (P ∧ Q) = (¬P) ∨ (¬Q)
o ¬ (P ∨ Q) = (¬ P) ∧ (¬Q).
o Double-negation elimination:
o ¬ (¬P) = P.

Limitations of Propositional logic:

o We cannot represent relations like ALL, some, or none with propositional logic.
Example:
 a. All the girls are intelligent.
b. Some apples are sweet.
o Propositional logic has limited expressive power.
o In propositional logic, we cannot describe statements in terms of their properties or
logical relationships

Rules of Inference in Artificial

intelligence
Inference:
In artificial intelligence, we need intelligent computers which can create new logic
from old logic or by evidence, so generating the conclusions from evidence
and facts is termed as Inference.

Inference rules:
Inference rules are the templates for generating valid arguments. Inference rules
are applied to derive proofs in artificial intelligence, and the proof is a sequence of
the conclusion that leads to the desired goal.

In inference rules, the implication among all the connectives plays an important
role. Following are some terminologies related to inference rules:

o Implication: It is one of the logical connectives which can be represented as

P → Q. It is a Boolean expression.
o Converse: The converse of implication, which means the right-hand side
proposition goes to the left-hand side and vice-versa. It can be written as Q
→ P.
o Contrapositive: The negation of converse is termed as contrapositive, and it
can be represented as ¬ Q → ¬ P.
o Inverse: The negation of implication is called inverse. It can be represented
as ¬ P → ¬ Q.

From the above term some of the compound statements are equivalent to each
other, which we can prove using truth table:
Hence from the above truth table, we can prove that P → Q is equivalent to ¬ Q →
¬ P, and Q→ P is equivalent to ¬ P → ¬ Q.

Types of Inference rules:

1. Modus Ponens:
The Modus Ponens rule is one of the most important rules of inference, and it states
that if P and P → Q is true, then we can infer that Q will be true. It can be
represented as:

Example:

Statement-1: "If I am sleepy then I go to bed" ==> P→ Q

Statement-2: "I am sleepy" ==> P
Conclusion: "I go to bed." ==> Q.
Hence, we can say that, if P→ Q is true and P is true then Q will be true.

Proof by Truth table:

2. Modus Tollens:
The Modus Tollens rule state that if P→ Q is true and ¬ Q is true, then ¬ P will
also true. It can be represented as:
Statement-1: "If I am sleepy then I go to bed" ==> P→ Q
Statement-2: "I do not go to the bed."==> ~Q
Statement-3: Which infers that "I am not sleepy" => ~P

Proof by Truth table:

3. Hypothetical Syllogism:
The Hypothetical Syllogism rule state that if P→R is true whenever P→Q is true, and
Q→R is true. It can be represented as the following notation:

Example:

Statement-1: If you have my home key then you can unlock my home. P→Q
Statement-2: If you can unlock my home then you can take my money. Q→R
Conclusion: If you have my home key then you can take my money. P→R

Proof by truth table:

4. Disjunctive Syllogism:
The Disjunctive syllogism rule state that if P∨Q is true, and ¬P is true, then Q will
be true. It can be represented as:

Example:

Statement-1: Today is Sunday or Monday. ==>P∨Q

Statement-2: Today is not Sunday. ==> ¬P
Conclusion: Today is Monday. ==> Q

Proof by truth-table:

5. Addition:
The Addition rule is one the common inference rule, and it states that If P is true,
then P∨Q will be true.

Example:

Statement: I have a vanilla ice-cream. ==> P

Statement-2: I have Chocolate ice-cream.
Conclusion: I have vanilla or chocolate ice-cream. ==> (P∨Q)

Proof by Truth-Table:
6. Simplification:
The simplification rule state that if P∧ Q is true, then Q or P will also be true. It can
be represented as:

Proof by Truth-Table:

7. Resolution:
The Resolution rule state that if P∨Q and ¬ P∧R is true, then Q∨R will also be
true. It can be represented as

Proof by Truth-Table:

First-Order Logic in Artificial

intelligence
In the topic of Propositional logic, we have seen that how to represent statements
using propositional logic. But unfortunately, in propositional logic, we can only
represent the facts, which are either true or false. PL is not sufficient to represent
the complex sentences or natural language statements. The propositional logic has
very limited expressive power. Consider the following sentence, which we cannot
represent using PL logic.

o "Some humans are intelligent", or

o "Sachin likes cricket."

To represent the above statements, PL logic is not sufficient, so we required some

more powerful logic, such as first-order logic.

First-Order logic:
o First-order logic is another way of knowledge representation in artificial
intelligence. It is an extension to propositional logic.
o FOL is sufficiently expressive to represent the natural language statements in
a concise way.
o First-order logic is also known as Predicate logic or First-order predicate
logic. First-order logic is a powerful language that develops information
about the objects in a more easy way and can also express the relationship
between those objects.
o First-order logic (like natural language) does not only assume that the world
contains facts like propositional logic but also assumes the following things in
the world:
o Objects: A, B, people, numbers, colors, wars, theories, squares, pits,
wumpus, ......
o Relations: It can be unary relation such as: red, round, is
adjacent, or n-any relation such as: the sister of, brother of, has
color, comes between
o Function: Father of, best friend, third inning of, end of, ......
o As a natural language, first-order logic also has two main parts:

a. Syntax

b. Semantics
Syntax of First-Order logic:
The syntax of FOL determines which collection of symbols is a logical expression in
first-order logic. The basic syntactic elements of first-order logic are symbols. We
write statements in short-hand notation in FOL.

Basic Elements of First-order logic:

Following are the basic elements of FOL syntax:

Constant 1, 2, A, John, Mumbai, cat,....

Variables x, y, z, a, b,....

Predicates Brother, Father, >,....

Function sqrt, LeftLegOf, ....

Connectives ∧, ∨, ¬, ⇒, ⇔

Equality ==

Quantifier ∀, ∃

Atomic sentences:
o 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.
o We can represent atomic sentences as Predicate (term1, term2, ......,
term n).

Example: Ravi and Ajay are brothers: => Brothers(Ravi, Ajay).

Chinky is a cat: => cat (Chinky).

Complex Sentences:
 o Complex sentences are made by combining atomic sentences using
connectives.

First-order logic statements can be divided into two parts:

o Subject: Subject is the main part of the statement.

o Predicate: A predicate can be defined as a relation, which binds two atoms
together in a statement.

Consider the statement: "x is an integer.", it consists of two parts, the first
part x is the subject of the statement and second part "is an integer," is known as a
predicate.

Quantifiers in First-order logic:

o A quantifier is a language element which generates quantification, and
quantification specifies the quantity of specimen in the universe of discourse.
o These are the symbols that permit to determine or identify the range and
scope of the variable in the logical expression. There are two types of
quantifier:

a. Universal Quantifier, (for all, everyone, everything)

b. Existential quantifier, (for some, at least one).

Universal Quantifier:
Universal quantifier is a symbol of logical representation, which specifies that the
statement within its range is true for everything or every instance of a particular
thing.

The Universal quantifier is represented by a symbol ∀, which resembles an inverted

A.
Note: In universal quantifier we use implication "→".

If x is a variable, then ∀x is read as:

o For all x
o For each x
o For every x.

Example:
All man drink coffee.

Let a variable x which refers to a cat so all x can be represented in UOD as below:

∀x man(x) → drink (x, coffee).

It will be read as: There are all x where x is a man who drink coffee.

Existential Quantifier:
Existential quantifiers are the type of quantifiers, which express that the statement
within its scope is true for at least one instance of something.
It is denoted by the logical operator ∃, which resembles as inverted E. When it is
used with a predicate variable then it is called as an existential quantifier.

Note: In Existential quantifier we always use AND or Conjunction symbol (∧).

If x is a variable, then existential quantifier will be ∃x or ∃(x). And it will be read as:

o There exists a 'x.'

o For some 'x.'
o For at least one 'x.'

Example:
Some boys are intelligent.

∃x: boys(x) ∧ intelligent(x)

It will be read as: There are some x where x is a boy who is intelligent.

Points to remember:
o The main connective for universal quantifier ∀ is implication →.
o The main connective for existential quantifier ∃ is and ∧.
Properties of Quantifiers:
o In universal quantifier, ∀x∀y is similar to ∀y∀x.
o In Existential quantifier, ∃x∃y is similar to ∃y∃x.
o ∃x∀y is not similar to ∀y∃x.

Some Examples of FOL using quantifier:

1. All birds fly.

In this question the predicate is "fly(bird)."
And since there are all birds who fly so it will be represented as follows.
∀x bird(x) →fly(x).

2. Every man respects his parent.

In this question, the predicate is "respect(x, y)," where x=man, and y=
parent.
Since there is every man so will use ∀, and it will be represented as follows:
∀x man(x) → respects (x, parent).

3. Some boys play cricket.

In this question, the predicate is "play(x, y)," where x= boys, and y= game. Since
there are some boys so we will use ∃, and it will be represented as:
∃x boys(x) → play(x, cricket).

4. Not all students like both Mathematics and Science.

In this question, the predicate is "like(x, y)," where x= student, and y=
subject.
Since there are not all students, so we will use ∀ with negation, so following
representation for this:
¬∀ (x) [ student(x) → like(x, Mathematics) ∧ like(x, Science)].

5. Only one student failed in Mathematics.

In this question, the predicate is "failed(x, y)," where x= student, and y=
subject.
Since there is only one student who failed in Mathematics, so we will use following
representation for this:
∃(x) [ student(x) → failed (x, Mathematics) ∧∀ (y) [¬(x==y) ∧
student(y) → ¬failed (x, Mathematics)].

Free and Bound Variables:

The quantifiers interact with variables which appear in a suitable way. There are
two types of variables in First-order logic which are given below:
Free Variable: A variable is said to be a free variable in a formula if it occurs
outside the scope of the quantifier.

Example: ∀x ∃(y)[P (x, y, z)], where z is a free variable.

Bound Variable: A variable is said to be a bound variable in a formula if it occurs

within the scope of the quantifier.

Example: ∀x [A (x) B( y)], here x and y are the bound variables.

Inference in First-Order Logic

Inference in First-Order Logic is used to deduce new facts or sentences from
existing sentences. Before understanding the FOL inference rule, let's understand
some basic terminologies used in FOL.

Substitution:

Substitution is a fundamental operation performed on terms and formulas. It occurs

in all inference systems in first-order logic. The substitution is complex in the
presence of quantifiers in FOL. If we write F[a/x], so it refers to substitute a
constant "a" in place of variable "x".

Note: First-order logic is capable of expressing facts about some or all objects in the
universe.

Equality:

First-Order logic does not only use predicate and terms for making atomic
sentences but also uses another way, which is equality in FOL. For this, we can
use equality symbols which specify that the two terms refer to the same object.

Example: Brother (John) = Smith.

As in the above example, the object referred by the Brother (John) is similar to
the object referred by Smith. The equality symbol can also be used with negation
to represent that two terms are not the same objects.

Example: ￢(x=y) which is equivalent to x ≠y.

FOL inference rules for quantifier:

As propositional logic we also have inference rules in first-order logic, so following
are some basic inference rules in FOL:
 o Universal Generalization
o Universal Instantiation
o Existential Instantiation
o Existential introduction

1. Universal Generalization:

o Universal generalization is a valid inference rule which states that if premise

P(c) is true for any arbitrary element c in the universe of discourse, then we
can have a conclusion as ∀ x P(x).

o It can be represented as: .

o This rule can be used if we want to show that every element has a similar
property.
o In this rule, x must not appear as a free variable.

Example: Let's represent, P(c): "A byte contains 8 bits", so for ∀ x P(x) "All
bytes contain 8 bits.", it will also be true.

2. Universal Instantiation:

o Universal instantiation is also called as universal elimination or UI is a valid

inference rule. It can be applied multiple times to add new sentences.
o The new KB is logically equivalent to the previous KB.
o As per UI, we can infer any sentence obtained by substituting a
ground term for the variable.
o The UI rule state that we can infer any sentence P(c) by substituting a
ground term c (a constant within domain x) from ∀ x P(x) for any object in
the universe of discourse.

o It can be represented as: .

Example:1.

IF "Every person like ice-cream"=> ∀x P(x) so we can infer that

"John likes ice-cream" => P(c)

Example: 2.
Let's take a famous example,

"All kings who are greedy are Evil." So let our knowledge base contains this detail
as in the form of FOL:

∀x king(x) ∧ greedy (x) → Evil (x),

So from this information, we can infer any of the following statements using
Universal Instantiation:

o King(John) ∧ Greedy (John) → Evil (John),

o King(Richard) ∧ Greedy (Richard) → Evil (Richard),
o King(Father(John)) ∧ Greedy (Father(John)) → Evil (Father(John)),

3. Existential Instantiation:

o Existential instantiation is also called as Existential Elimination, which is a

valid inference rule in first-order logic.
o It can be applied only once to replace the existential sentence.
o The new KB is not logically equivalent to old KB, but it will be satisfiable if old
KB was satisfiable.
o This rule states that one can infer P(c) from the formula given in the form of
∃x P(x) for a new constant symbol c.
o The restriction with this rule is that c used in the rule must be a new term for
which P(c ) is true.

o It can be represented as:

Example:

From the given sentence: ∃x Crown(x) ∧ OnHead(x, John),

So we can infer: Crown(K) ∧ OnHead( K, John), as long as K does not appear in

the knowledge base.

o The above used K is a constant symbol, which is called Skolem constant.

o The Existential instantiation is a special case of Skolemization process.

4. Existential introduction
 o An existential introduction is also known as an existential generalization,
which is a valid inference rule in first-order logic.
o This rule states that if there is some element c in the universe of discourse
which has a property P, then we can infer that there exists something in the
universe which has the property P.

o It can be represented as:

o Example: Let's say that,
"Priyanka got good marks in English."
"Therefore, someone got good marks in English."

Generalized Modus Ponens Rule:

For the inference process in FOL, we have a single inference rule which is called
Generalized Modus Ponens. It is lifted version of Modus ponens.

Generalized Modus Ponens can be summarized as, " P implies Q and P is asserted to
be true, therefore Q must be True."

According to Modus Ponens, for atomic sentences pi, pi', q. Where there is a
substitution θ such that SUBST (θ, pi',) = SUBST(θ, pi), it can be represented as:

Example:

We will use this rule for Kings are evil, so we will find some x such that x is
king, and x is greedy so we can infer that x is evil.

1. Here let say, p1' is king(John) p1 is king(x)

2. p2' is Greedy(y) p2 is Greedy(x)
3. θ is {x/John, y/John} q is evil(x)
4. SUBST(θ,q).

What is Unification?
 o Unification is a process of making two different logical atomic expressions
identical by finding a substitution. Unification depends on the substitution
process.
o It takes two literals as input and makes them identical using substitution.
o Let Ψ1 and Ψ2 be two atomic sentences and 𝜎 be a unifier such that, Ψ1𝜎 =
Ψ2𝜎, then it can be expressed as UNIFY(Ψ1, Ψ2).
o Example: Find the MGU for Unify{King(x), King(John)}

Let Ψ1 = King(x), Ψ2 = King(John),

Substitution θ = {John/x} is a unifier for these atoms and applying this

substitution, and both expressions will be identical.

o The UNIFY algorithm is used for unification, which takes two atomic
sentences and returns a unifier for those sentences (If any exist).
o Unification is a key component of all first-order inference algorithms.
o It returns fail if the expressions do not match with each other.
o The substitution variables are called Most General Unifier or MGU.

E.g. Let's say there are two different expressions, P(x, y), and P(a, f(z)).

In this example, we need to make both above statements identical to each other.
For this, we will perform the substitution.

P(x, y)......... (i)

P(a, f(z))......... (ii)

o Substitute x with a, and y with f(z) in the first expression, and it will be
represented as a/x and f(z)/y.
o With both the substitutions, the first expression will be identical to the
second expression and the substitution set will be: [a/x, f(z)/y].

Conditions for Unification:

Following are some basic conditions for unification:

o Predicate symbol must be same, atoms or expression with different predicate

symbol can never be unified.
 o Number of Arguments in both expressions must be identical.
o Unification will fail if there are two similar variables present in the same
expression.

Unification Algorithm:
Algorithm: Unify(Ψ1, Ψ2)

Step. 1: If Ψ1 or Ψ2 is a variable or constant, then:

a) If Ψ1 or Ψ2 are identical, then return NIL.
b) Else if Ψ1is a variable,
a. then if Ψ1 occurs in Ψ2, then return FAILURE
b. Else return { (Ψ2/ Ψ1)}.
c) Else if Ψ2 is a variable,
a. If Ψ2 occurs in Ψ1 then return FAILURE,
b. Else return {( Ψ1/ Ψ2)}.
d) Else return FAILURE.
Step.2: If the initial Predicate symbol in Ψ1 and Ψ2 are not same, then
return FAILURE.
Step. 3: IF Ψ1 and Ψ2 have a different number of arguments, then return
FAILURE.
Step. 4: Set Substitution set(SUBST) to NIL.
Step. 5: For i=1 to the number of elements in Ψ1.
a) Call Unify function with the ith element of Ψ1 and ith element of
Ψ2, and put the result into S.
b) If S = failure then returns Failure
c) If S ≠ NIL then do,
a. Apply S to the remainder of both L1 and L2.
b. SUBST= APPEND(S, SUBST).
Step.6: Return SUBST.

Implementation of the Algorithm

Step.1: Initialize the substitution set to be empty.

Step.2: Recursively unify atomic sentences:

a. Check for Identical expression match.

b. If one expression is a variable vi, and the other is a term ti which does not
contain variable vi, then:
 a. Substitute ti / vi in the existing substitutions
b. Add ti /vi to the substitution setlist.
c. If both the expressions are functions, then function name must be
similar, and the number of arguments must be the same in both the
expression.

For each pair of the following atomic sentences find the most
general unifier (If exist).

1. Find the MGU of {p(f(a), g(Y)) and p(X, X)}

Sol: S0 => Here, Ψ1 = p(f(a), g(Y)), and Ψ2 = p(X, X)

SUBST θ= {f(a) / X}
S1 => Ψ1 = p(f(a), g(Y)), and Ψ2 = p(f(a), f(a))
SUBST θ= {f(a) / g(y)}, Unification failed.

Unification is not possible for these expressions.

2. Find the MGU of {p(b, X, f(g(Z))) and p(Z, f(Y), f(Y))}

Here, Ψ1 = p(b, X, f(g(Z))) , and Ψ2 = p(Z, f(Y), f(Y))

S0 => { p(b, X, f(g(Z))); p(Z, f(Y), f(Y))}
SUBST θ={b/Z}

S1 => { p(b, X, f(g(b))); p(b, f(Y), f(Y))}

SUBST θ={f(Y) /X}

S2 => { p(b, f(Y), f(g(b))); p(b, f(Y), f(Y))}

SUBST θ= {g(b) /Y}

S2 => { p(b, f(g(b)), f(g(b)); p(b, f(g(b)), f(g(b))} Unified Successfully.

And Unifier = { b/Z, f(Y) /X , g(b) /Y}.

3. Find the MGU of {p (X, X), and p (Z, f(Z))}

Here, Ψ1 = {p (X, X), and Ψ2 = p (Z, f(Z))

S0 => {p (X, X), p (Z, f(Z))}
SUBST θ= {X/Z}
S1 => {p (Z, Z), p (Z, f(Z))}
SUBST θ= {f(Z) / Z}, Unification Failed.

Hence, unification is not possible for these expressions.

4. Find the MGU of UNIFY(prime (11), prime(y))

Here, Ψ1 = {prime(11) , and Ψ2 = prime(y)}
S0 => {prime(11) , prime(y)}
SUBST θ= {11/y}

S1 => {prime(11) , prime(11)} , Successfully unified.

Unifier: {11/y}.

5. Find the MGU of Q(a, g(x, a), f(y)), Q(a, g(f(b), a), x)}

Here, Ψ1 = Q(a, g(x, a), f(y)), and Ψ2 = Q(a, g(f(b), a), x)

S0 => {Q(a, g(x, a), f(y)); Q(a, g(f(b), a), x)}
SUBST θ= {f(b)/x}
S1 => {Q(a, g(f(b), a), f(y)); Q(a, g(f(b), a), f(b))}

SUBST θ= {b/y}
S1 => {Q(a, g(f(b), a), f(b)); Q(a, g(f(b), a), f(b))}, Successfully Unified.

Unifier: [a/a, f(b)/x, b/y].

6. UNIFY(knows(Richard, x), knows(Richard, John))

Here, Ψ1 = knows(Richard, x), and Ψ2 = knows(Richard, John)

S0 => { knows(Richard, x); knows(Richard, John)}
SUBST θ= {John/x}
S1 => { knows(Richard, John); knows(Richard, John)}, Successfully Unified.
Unifier: {John/x}.

Resolution in FOL
Resolution
Resolution is a theorem proving technique that proceeds by building refutation
proofs, i.e., proofs by contradictions. It was invented by a Mathematician John Alan
Robinson in the year 1965.

Resolution is used, if there are various statements are given, and we need to prove
a conclusion of those statements. Unification is a key concept in proofs by
resolutions. Resolution is a single inference rule which can efficiently operate on
the conjunctive normal form or clausal form.

Clause: Disjunction of literals (an atomic sentence) is called a clause. It is also

known as a unit clause.
Conjunctive Normal Form: A sentence represented as a conjunction of clauses is
said to be conjunctive normal form or CNF.

Note: To better understand this topic, firstly learns the FOL in AI.

The resolution inference rule:

The resolution rule for first-order logic is simply a lifted version of the propositional
rule. Resolution can resolve two clauses if they contain complementary literals,
which are assumed to be standardized apart so that they share no variables.

Where li and mj are complementary literals.

This rule is also called the binary resolution rule because it only resolves exactly
two literals.

Example:
We can resolve two clauses which are given below:

[Animal (g(x) V Loves (f(x), x)] and [￢ Loves(a, b) V ￢Kills(a, b)]

Where two complimentary literals are: Loves (f(x), x) and ￢ Loves (a, b)

These literals can be unified with unifier θ= [a/f(x), and b/x] , and it will
generate a resolvent clause:

[Animal (g(x) V ￢ Kills(f(x), x)].

Steps for Resolution:

1. Conversion of facts into first-order logic.
2. Convert FOL statements into CNF
3. Negate the statement which needs to prove (proof by contradiction)
4. Draw resolution graph (unification).

To better understand all the above steps, we will take an example in which we will
apply resolution.
Example:
a. John likes all kind of food.
b. Apple and vegetable are food
c. Anything anyone eats and not killed is food.
d. Anil eats peanuts and still alive
e. Harry eats everything that Anil eats.
Prove by resolution that:
f. John likes peanuts.

Step-1: Conversion of Facts into FOL

In the first step we will convert all the given statements into its first order logic.

Step-2: Conversion of FOL into CNF

In First order logic resolution, it is required to convert the FOL into CNF as CNF
form makes easier for resolution proofs.

o Eliminate all implication (→) and rewrite

a. ∀x ¬ food(x) V likes(John, x)
b. food(Apple) Λ food(vegetables)
c. ∀x ∀y ¬ [eats(x, y) Λ ¬ killed(x)] V food(y)
d. eats (Anil, Peanuts) Λ alive(Anil)
e. ∀x ¬ eats(Anil, x) V eats(Harry, x)
 f. ∀x¬ [¬ killed(x) ] V alive(x)
g. ∀x ¬ alive(x) V ¬ killed(x)
h. likes(John, Peanuts).
o Move negation (¬)inwards and rewrite

a. ∀x ¬ food(x) V likes(John, x)
b. food(Apple) Λ food(vegetables)
c. ∀x ∀y ¬ eats(x, y) V killed(x) V food(y)
d. eats (Anil, Peanuts) Λ alive(Anil)
e. ∀x ¬ eats(Anil, x) V eats(Harry, x)
f. ∀x ¬killed(x) ] V alive(x)
g. ∀x ¬ alive(x) V ¬ killed(x)
h. likes(John, Peanuts).
o Rename variables or standardize variables

a. ∀x ¬ food(x) V likes(John, x)
b. food(Apple) Λ food(vegetables)
c. ∀y ∀z ¬ eats(y, z) V killed(y) V food(z)
d. eats (Anil, Peanuts) Λ alive(Anil)
e. ∀w¬ eats(Anil, w) V eats(Harry, w)
f. ∀g ¬killed(g) ] V alive(g)
g. ∀k ¬ alive(k) V ¬ killed(k)
h. likes(John, Peanuts).
o Eliminate existential instantiation quantifier by elimination.
In this step, we will eliminate existential quantifier ∃, and this process is
known as Skolemization. But in this example problem since there is no
existential quantifier so all the statements will remain same in this step.
o Drop Universal quantifiers.
In this step we will drop all universal quantifier since all the statements are
not implicitly quantified so we don't need it.

a. ¬ food(x) V likes(John, x)
b. food(Apple)
 c. food(vegetables)
d. ¬ eats(y, z) V killed(y) V food(z)
e. eats (Anil, Peanuts)
f. alive(Anil)
g. ¬ eats(Anil, w) V eats(Harry, w)
h. killed(g) V alive(g)
i. ¬ alive(k) V ¬ killed(k)
j. likes(John, Peanuts).

Note: Statements "food(Apple) Λ food(vegetables)" and "eats (Anil, Peanuts) Λ

alive(Anil)" can be written in two separate statements.

o Distribute conjunction ∧ over disjunction ¬.

This step will not make any change in this problem.

Step-3: Negate the statement to be proved

In this statement, we will apply negation to the conclusion statements, which will
be written as ¬likes(John, Peanuts)

Step-4: Draw Resolution graph:

Now in this step, we will solve the problem by resolution tree using substitution. For
the above problem, it will be given as follows:
Hence the negation of the conclusion has been proved as a complete contradiction
with the given set of statements.

Explanation of Resolution graph:

o In the first step of resolution graph, ¬likes(John, Peanuts) ,
and likes(John, x) get resolved(canceled) by substitution of {Peanuts/x},
and we are left with ¬ food(Peanuts)
o In the second step of the resolution graph, ¬ food(Peanuts) ,
and food(z) get resolved (canceled) by substitution of { Peanuts/z}, and
we are left with ¬ eats(y, Peanuts) V killed(y) .
o In the third step of the resolution graph, ¬ eats(y, Peanuts) and eats
(Anil, Peanuts) get resolved by substitution {Anil/y}, and we are left
with Killed(Anil) .
o In the fourth step of the resolution graph, Killed(Anil) and ¬ killed(k) get
resolve by substitution {Anil/k}, and we are left with ¬ alive(Anil) .
o In the last step of the resolution graph ¬ alive(Anil) and alive(Anil) get
resolved.
Forward Chaining and backward
chaining in AI
In artificial intelligence, forward and backward chaining is one of the important
topics, but before understanding forward and backward chaining lets first
understand that from where these two terms came.

Inference engine:
The inference engine is the component of the intelligent system in artificial
intelligence, which applies logical rules to the knowledge base to infer new
information from known facts. The first inference engine was part of the expert
system. Inference engine commonly proceeds in two modes, which are:

a. Forward chaining
b. Backward chaining

Horn Clause and Definite clause:

Horn clause and definite clause are the forms of sentences, which enables
knowledge base to use a more restricted and efficient inference algorithm. Logical
inference algorithms use forward and backward chaining approaches, which require
KB in the form of the first-order definite clause.

Definite clause: A clause which is a disjunction of literals with exactly one

positive literal is known as a definite clause or strict horn clause.

Horn clause: A clause which is a disjunction of literals with at most one positive
literal is known as horn clause. Hence all the definite clauses are horn clauses.

Example: (¬ p V ¬ q V k). It has only one positive literal k.

It is equivalent to p ∧ q → k.

A. Forward Chaining
Forward chaining is also known as a forward deduction or forward reasoning
method when using an inference engine. Forward chaining is a form of reasoning
which start with atomic sentences in the knowledge base and applies inference
rules (Modus Ponens) in the forward direction to extract more data until a goal is
reached.
The Forward-chaining algorithm starts from known facts, triggers all rules whose
premises are satisfied, and add their conclusion to the known facts. This process
repeats until the problem is solved.

Properties of Forward-Chaining:

o It is a down-up approach, as it moves from bottom to top.

o It is a process of making a conclusion based on known facts or data, by
starting from the initial state and reaches the goal state.
o Forward-chaining approach is also called as data-driven as we reach to the
goal using available data.
o Forward -chaining approach is commonly used in the expert system, such as
CLIPS, business, and production rule systems.

Consider the following famous example which we will use in both approaches:

Example:
"As per the law, it is a crime for an American to sell weapons to hostile
nations. Country A, an enemy of America, has some missiles, and all the
missiles were sold to it by Robert, who is an American citizen."

Prove that "Robert is criminal."

To solve the above problem, first, we will convert all the above facts into first-order
definite clauses, and then we will use a forward-chaining algorithm to reach the
goal.

Facts Conversion into FOL:

o It is a crime for an American to sell weapons to hostile nations. (Let's say p,
q, and r are variables)
American (p) ∧ weapon(q) ∧ sells (p, q, r) ∧ hostile(r) → Criminal(p)
...(1)
o Country A has some missiles. ?p Owns(A, p) ∧ Missile(p). It can be written
in two definite clauses by using Existential Instantiation, introducing new
Constant T1.
Owns(A, T1) ......(2)
Missile(T1) .......(3)
 o All of the missiles were sold to country A by Robert.
?p Missiles(p) ∧ Owns (A, p) → Sells (Robert, p, A) ......(4)
o Missiles are weapons.
Missile(p) → Weapons (p) .......(5)
o Enemy of America is known as hostile.
Enemy(p, America) →Hostile(p) ........(6)
o Country A is an enemy of America.
Enemy (A, America) .........(7)
o Robert is American
American(Robert). ..........(8)

Forward chaining proof:

Step-1:

In the first step we will start with the known facts and will choose the sentences
which do not have implications, such as: American(Robert), Enemy(A,
America), Owns(A, T1), and Missile(T1). All these facts will be represented as
below.

Step-2:

At the second step, we will see those facts which infer from available facts and with
satisfied premises.

Rule-(1) does not satisfy premises, so it will not be added in the first iteration.

Rule-(2) and (3) are already added.

Rule-(4) satisfy with the substitution {p/T1}, so Sells (Robert, T1, A) is added,
which infers from the conjunction of Rule (2) and (3).

Rule-(6) is satisfied with the substitution(p/A), so Hostile(A) is added and which

infers from Rule-(7).
Step-3:

At step-3, as we can check Rule-(1) is satisfied with the substitution {p/Robert,

q/T1, r/A}, so we can add Criminal(Robert) which infers all the available facts.
And hence we reached our goal statement.

Hence it is proved that Robert is Criminal using forward chaining approach.

B. Backward Chaining:
Backward-chaining is also known as a backward deduction or backward reasoning
method when using an inference engine. A backward chaining algorithm is a form of
reasoning, which starts with the goal and works backward, chaining through rules
to find known facts that support the goal.

Properties of backward chaining:

o It is known as a top-down approach.

o Backward-chaining is based on modus ponens inference rule.
 o In backward chaining, the goal is broken into sub-goal or sub-goals to prove
the facts true.
o It is called a goal-driven approach, as a list of goals decides which rules are
selected and used.
o Backward -chaining algorithm is used in game theory, automated theorem
proving tools, inference engines, proof assistants, and various AI
applications.
o The backward-chaining method mostly used a depth-first search strategy
for proof.

Example:
In backward-chaining, we will use the same above example, and will rewrite all the
rules.

o American (p) ∧ weapon(q) ∧ sells (p, q, r) ∧ hostile(r) →

Criminal(p) ...(1)
Owns(A, T1) ........(2)
o Missile(T1)
o ?p Missiles(p) ∧ Owns (A, p) → Sells (Robert, p, A) ......(4)
o Missile(p) → Weapons (p) .......(5)
o Enemy(p, America) →Hostile(p) ........(6)
o Enemy (A, America) .........(7)
o American(Robert). ..........(8)

Backward-Chaining proof:
In Backward chaining, we will start with our goal predicate, which
is Criminal(Robert), and then infer further rules.

Step-1:

At the first step, we will take the goal fact. And from the goal fact, we will infer
other facts, and at last, we will prove those facts true. So our goal fact is "Robert is
Criminal," so following is the predicate of it.
Step-2:

At the second step, we will infer other facts form goal fact which satisfies the rules.
So as we can see in Rule-1, the goal predicate Criminal (Robert) is present with
substitution {Robert/P}. So we will add all the conjunctive facts below the first level
and will replace p with Robert.

Here we can see American (Robert) is a fact, so it is proved here.

Step-3:t At step-3, we will extract further fact Missile(q) which infer from
Weapon(q), as it satisfies Rule-(5). Weapon (q) is also true with the substitution of
a constant T1 at q.
Step-4:

At step-4, we can infer facts Missile(T1) and Owns(A, T1) form Sells(Robert, T1, r)
which satisfies the Rule- 4, with the substitution of A in place of r. So these two
statements are proved here.
Step-5:

At step-5, we can infer the fact Enemy(A, America) from Hostile(A) which
satisfies Rule- 6. And hence all the statements are proved true using backward
chaining.

Difference between backward

chaining and forward chaining
Following is the difference between the forward chaining and backward
chaining:

o Forward chaining as the name suggests, start from the known facts and
move forward by applying inference rules to extract more data, and it
continues until it reaches to the goal, whereas backward chaining starts from
the goal, move backward by using inference rules to determine the facts that
satisfy the goal.
o Forward chaining is called a data-driven inference technique, whereas
backward chaining is called a goal-driven inference technique.
 o Forward chaining is known as the down-up approach, whereas backward
chaining is known as a top-down approach.
o Forward chaining uses breadth-first search strategy, whereas backward
chaining uses depth-first search strategy.
o Forward and backward chaining both applies Modus ponens inference rule.
o Forward chaining can be used for tasks such as planning, design process
monitoring, diagnosis, and classification, whereas backward chaining
can be used for classification and diagnosis tasks.
o Forward chaining can be like an exhaustive search, whereas backward
chaining tries to avoid the unnecessary path of reasoning.
o In forward-chaining there can be various ASK questions from the knowledge
base, whereas in backward chaining there can be fewer ASK questions.
o Forward chaining is slow as it checks for all the rules, whereas backward
chaining is fast as it checks few required rules only.

S. Forward Chaining Backward Chaining

No.

1. Forward chaining starts from known facts and Backward chaining starts f
applies inference rule to extract more data unit it backward through inferenc
reaches to the goal. facts that support the goa

2. It is a bottom-up approach It is a top-down approach

3. Forward chaining is known as data-driven inference Backward chaining is know

technique as we reach to the goal using the available we start from the goal and
data. the facts.

4. Forward chaining reasoning applies a breadth-first Backward chaining reason

search strategy. strategy.

5. Forward chaining tests for all the available rules Backward chaining only te

6. Forward chaining is suitable for the planning, Backward chaining is suita

 monitoring, control, and interpretation application. and debugging application

7. Forward chaining can generate an infinite number of Backward chaining genera

possible conclusions. conclusions.

8. It operates in the forward direction. It operates in the backwar

9. Forward chaining is aimed for any conclusion. Backward chaining is only

Reasoning:
The reasoning is the mental process of deriving logical conclusion and making
predictions from available knowledge, facts, and beliefs. Or we can say,
"Reasoning is a way to infer facts from existing data." It is a general process
of thinking rationally, to find valid conclusions.

In artificial intelligence, the reasoning is essential so that the machine can also
think rationally as a human brain, and can perform like a human.

Types of Reasoning
In artificial intelligence, reasoning can be divided into the following categories:

o Deductive reasoning
o Inductive reasoning
o Abductive reasoning
o Common Sense Reasoning
o Monotonic Reasoning
o Non-monotonic Reasoning

Note: Inductive and deductive reasoning are the forms of propositional logic.

1. Deductive reasoning:
Deductive reasoning is deducing new information from logically related known
information. It is the form of valid reasoning, which means the argument's
conclusion must be true when the premises are true.
Deductive reasoning is a type of propositional logic in AI, and it requires various
rules and facts. It is sometimes referred to as top-down reasoning, and
contradictory to inductive reasoning.

In deductive reasoning, the truth of the premises guarantees the truth of the
conclusion.

Deductive reasoning mostly starts from the general premises to the specific
conclusion, which can be explained as below example.

Example:

Premise-1: All the human eats veggies

Premise-2: Suresh is human.

Conclusion: Suresh eats veggies.

The general process of deductive reasoning is given below:

2. Inductive Reasoning:
Inductive reasoning is a form of reasoning to arrive at a conclusion using limited
sets of facts by the process of generalization. It starts with the series of specific
facts or data and reaches to a general statement or conclusion.

Inductive reasoning is a type of propositional logic, which is also known as cause-

effect reasoning or bottom-up reasoning.

In inductive reasoning, we use historical data or various premises to generate a

generic rule, for which premises support the conclusion.

In inductive reasoning, premises provide probable supports to the conclusion, so

the truth of premises does not guarantee the truth of the conclusion.

Example:

Premise: All of the pigeons we have seen in the zoo are white.

Conclusion: Therefore, we can expect all the pigeons to be white.

3. Abductive reasoning:
Abductive reasoning is a form of logical reasoning which starts with single or
multiple observations then seeks to find the most likely explanation or conclusion
for the observation.

Abductive reasoning is an extension of deductive reasoning, but in abductive

reasoning, the premises do not guarantee the conclusion.

Example:

Implication: Cricket ground is wet if it is raining

Axiom: Cricket ground is wet.

Conclusion It is raining.

4. Common Sense Reasoning

Common sense reasoning is an informal form of reasoning, which can be gained
through experiences.

Common Sense reasoning simulates the human ability to make presumptions about
events which occurs on every day.

It relies on good judgment rather than exact logic and operates on heuristic
knowledge and heuristic rules.

Example:

1. One person can be at one place at a time.

2. If I put my hand in a fire, then it will burn.

The above two statements are the examples of common sense reasoning which a
human mind can easily understand and assume.

5. Monotonic Reasoning:
In monotonic reasoning, once the conclusion is taken, then it will remain the same
even if we add some other information to existing information in our knowledge
base. In monotonic reasoning, adding knowledge does not decrease the set of
prepositions that can be derived.

To solve monotonic problems, we can derive the valid conclusion from the available
facts only, and it will not be affected by new facts.

Monotonic reasoning is not useful for the real-time systems, as in real time, facts
get changed, so we cannot use monotonic reasoning.

Monotonic reasoning is used in conventional reasoning systems, and a logic-based

system is monotonic.

Any theorem proving is an example of monotonic reasoning.

Example:

o Earth revolves around the Sun.

It is a true fact, and it cannot be changed even if we add another sentence in

knowledge base like, "The moon revolves around the earth" Or "Earth is not round,"
etc.

Advantages of Monotonic Reasoning:

o In monotonic reasoning, each old proof will always remain valid.

o If we deduce some facts from available facts, then it will remain valid for
always.

Disadvantages of Monotonic Reasoning:

o We cannot represent the real world scenarios using Monotonic reasoning.

o Hypothesis knowledge cannot be expressed with monotonic reasoning, which
means facts should be true.
o Since we can only derive conclusions from the old proofs, so new knowledge
from the real world cannot be added.

6. Non-monotonic Reasoning
In Non-monotonic reasoning, some conclusions may be invalidated if we add some
more information to our knowledge base.
Logic will be said as non-monotonic if some conclusions can be invalidated by
adding more knowledge into our knowledge base.

Non-monotonic reasoning deals with incomplete and uncertain models.

"Human perceptions for various things in daily life, "is a general example of non-
monotonic reasoning.

Example: Let suppose the knowledge base contains the following knowledge:

o Birds can fly

o Penguins cannot fly
o Pitty is a bird

So from the above sentences, we can conclude that Pitty can fly.

However, if we add one another sentence into knowledge base "Pitty is a

penguin", which concludes "Pitty cannot fly", so it invalidates the above
conclusion.

Advantages of Non-monotonic reasoning:

o For real-world systems such as Robot navigation, we can use non-monotonic

reasoning.
o In Non-monotonic reasoning, we can choose probabilistic facts or can make
assumptions.

Disadvantages of Non-monotonic Reasoning:

o In non-monotonic reasoning, the old facts may be invalidated by adding new

sentences.
o It cannot be used for theorem proving.

Probabilistic reasoning in Artificial

intelligence
Uncertainty:
Till now, we have learned knowledge representation using first-order logic and
propositional logic with certainty, which means we were sure about the predicates.
With this knowledge representation, we might write A→B, which means if A is true
then B is true, but consider a situation where we are not sure about whether A is
true or not then we cannot express this statement, this situation is called
uncertainty.

So to represent uncertain knowledge, where we are not sure about the predicates,
we need uncertain reasoning or probabilistic reasoning.

Causes of uncertainty:
Following are some leading causes of uncertainty to occur in the real world.

1. Information occurred from unreliable sources.

2. Experimental Errors
3. Equipment fault
4. Temperature variation
5. Climate change.

Probabilistic reasoning:
Probabilistic reasoning is a way of knowledge representation where we apply the
concept of probability to indicate the uncertainty in knowledge. In probabilistic
reasoning, we combine probability theory with logic to handle the uncertainty.

We use probability in probabilistic reasoning because it provides a way to handle

the uncertainty that is the result of someone's laziness and ignorance.

In the real world, there are lots of scenarios, where the certainty of something is
not confirmed, such as "It will rain today," "behavior of someone for some
situations," "A match between two teams or two players." These are probable
sentences for which we can assume that it will happen but not sure about it, so
here we use probabilistic reasoning.

Need of probabilistic reasoning in AI:

o When there are unpredictable outcomes.

o When specifications or possibilities of predicates becomes too large to
handle.
o When an unknown error occurs during an experiment.
 In probabilistic reasoning, there are two ways to solve problems with uncertain
knowledge:

o Bayes' rule
o Bayesian Statistics

Note: We will learn the above two rules in later chapters.

As probabilistic reasoning uses probability and related terms, so before

understanding probabilistic reasoning, let's understand some common terms:

Probability: Probability can be defined as a chance that an uncertain event will

occur. It is the numerical measure of the likelihood that an event will occur. The
value of probability always remains between 0 and 1 that represent ideal
uncertainties.

1. 0 ≤ P(A) ≤ 1, where P(A) is the probability of an event A.

1. P(A) = 0, indicates total uncertainty in an event A.

1. P(A) =1, indicates total certainty in an event A.

We can find the probability of an uncertain event by using the below formula.

o P(¬A) = probability of a not happening event.

o P(¬A) + P(A) = 1.

Event: Each possible outcome of a variable is called an event.

Sample space: The collection of all possible events is called sample space.

Random variables: Random variables are used to represent the events and
objects in the real world.

Prior probability: The prior probability of an event is probability computed before

observing new information.

Posterior Probability: The probability that is calculated after all evidence or

information has taken into account. It is a combination of prior probability and new
information.

Conditional probability:
Conditional probability is a probability of occurring an event when another event
has already happened.

Let's suppose, we want to calculate the event A when event B has already occurred,
"the probability of A under the conditions of B", it can be written as:

Where P(A⋀B)= Joint probability of a and B

P(B)= Marginal probability of B.

If the probability of A is given and we need to find the probability of B, then it will
be given as:

It can be explained by using the below Venn diagram, where B is occurred event, so
sample space will be reduced to set B, and now we can only calculate event A when
event B is already occurred by dividing the probability of P(A⋀B) by P( B ).

Example:

In a class, there are 70% of the students who like English and 40% of the students
who likes English and mathematics, and then what is the percent of students those
who like English also like mathematics?
 Solution:

Let, A is an event that a student likes Mathematics

B is an event that a student likes English.

Hence, 57% are the students who like English also like Mathematics.

Bayes' theorem:
Bayes' theorem is also known as Bayes' rule, Bayes' law, or Bayesian
reasoning, which determines the probability of an event with uncertain knowledge.

In probability theory, it relates the conditional probability and marginal probabilities

of two random events.

Bayes' theorem was named after the British mathematician Thomas Bayes.
The Bayesian inference is an application of Bayes' theorem, which is fundamental
to Bayesian statistics.

It is a way to calculate the value of P(B|A) with the knowledge of P(A|B).

Bayes' theorem allows updating the probability prediction of an event by observing

new information of the real world.

Example: If cancer corresponds to one's age then by using Bayes' theorem, we

can determine the probability of cancer more accurately with the help of age.

Bayes' theorem can be derived using product rule and conditional probability of
event A with known event B:

As from product rule we can write:

1. P(A ⋀ B)= P(A|B) P(B) or

Similarly, the probability of event B with known event A:

1. P(A ⋀ B)= P(B|A) P(A)

Equating right hand side of both the equations, we will get:

The above equation (a) is called as Bayes' rule or Bayes' theorem. This equation
is basic of most modern AI systems for probabilistic inference.

It shows the simple relationship between joint and conditional probabilities. Here,

P(A|B) is known as posterior, which we need to calculate, and it will be read as

Probability of hypothesis A when we have occurred an evidence B.

P(B|A) is called the likelihood, in which we consider that hypothesis is true, then we
calculate the probability of evidence.

P(A) is called the prior probability, probability of hypothesis before considering

the evidence

P(B) is called marginal probability, pure probability of an evidence.

In the equation (a), in general, we can write P (B) = P(A)*P(B|Ai), hence the
Bayes' rule can be written as:

Where A1, A2, A3,........, An is a set of mutually exclusive and exhaustive events.

Applying Bayes' rule:

Bayes' rule allows us to compute the single term P(B|A) in terms of P(A|B), P(B),
and P(A). This is very useful in cases where we have a good probability of these
three terms and want to determine the fourth one. Suppose we want to perceive
the effect of some unknown cause, and want to compute that cause, then the
Bayes' rule becomes:

Example-1:

Question: what is the probability that a patient has diseases meningitis

with a stiff neck?
Given Data:

A doctor is aware that disease meningitis causes a patient to have a stiff neck, and
it occurs 80% of the time. He is also aware of some more facts, which are given as
follows:

o The Known probability that a patient has meningitis disease is 1/30,000.

o The Known probability that a patient has a stiff neck is 2%.

Let a be the proposition that patient has stiff neck and b be the proposition that
patient has meningitis. , so we can calculate the following as:

P(a|b) = 0.8

P(b) = 1/30000

P(a)= .02

Hence, we can assume that 1 patient out of 750 patients has meningitis disease
with a stiff neck.

Example-2:

Question: From a standard deck of playing cards, a single card is drawn.

The probability that the card is king is 4/52, then calculate posterior
probability P(King|Face), which means the drawn face card is a king card.

Solution:

P(king): probability that the card is King= 4/52= 1/13

P(face): probability that a card is a face card= 3/13

P(Face|King): probability of face card when we assume it is a king = 1

Putting all values in equation (i) we will get:

Application of Bayes' theorem in
Artificial intelligence:
Following are some applications of Bayes' theorem:

o It is used to calculate the next step of the robot when the already executed
step is given.
o Bayes' theorem is helpful in weather forecasting.
o It can solve the Monty Hall problem.

Bayesian Belief Network in

artificial intelligence
Bayesian belief network is key computer technology for dealing with probabilistic
events and to solve a problem which has uncertainty. We can define a Bayesian
network as:

"A Bayesian network is a probabilistic graphical model which represents a set of

variables and their conditional dependencies using a directed acyclic graph."

It is also called a Bayes network, belief network, decision network,

or Bayesian model.

Bayesian networks are probabilistic, because these networks are built from
a probability distribution, and also use probability theory for prediction and
anomaly detection.

Real world applications are probabilistic in nature, and to represent the relationship
between multiple events, we need a Bayesian network. It can also be used in
various tasks including prediction, anomaly detection, diagnostics, automated
insight, reasoning, time series prediction, and decision making under
uncertainty.

Bayesian Network can be used for building models from data and experts opinions,
and it consists of two parts:
 o Directed Acyclic Graph
o Table of conditional probabilities.

The generalized form of Bayesian network that represents and solve decision
problems under uncertain knowledge is known as an Influence diagram.

A Bayesian network graph is made up of nodes and Arcs (directed links),

where:

o Each node corresponds to the random variables, and a variable can

be continuous or discrete.
o Arc or directed arrows represent the causal relationship or conditional
probabilities between random variables. These directed links or arrows
connect the pair of nodes in the graph.
These links represent that one node directly influence the other node, and if
there is no directed link that means that nodes are independent with each
other
o In the above diagram, A, B, C, and D are random variables
represented by the nodes of the network graph.
 o If we are considering node B, which is connected with node A
by a directed arrow, then node A is called the parent of Node B.
o Node C is independent of node A.

Note: The Bayesian network graph does not contain any cyclic graph. Hence, it is
known as a directed acyclic graph or DAG.

The Bayesian network has mainly two components:

o Causal Component
o Actual numbers

Each node in the Bayesian network has condition probability distribution P(Xi |
Parent(Xi) ), which determines the effect of the parent on that node.

Bayesian network is based on Joint probability distribution and conditional

probability. So let's first understand the joint probability distribution:

Joint probability distribution:

If we have variables x1, x2, x3,....., xn, then the probabilities of a different
combination of x1, x2, x3.. xn, are known as Joint probability distribution.

P[x1, x2, x3,....., xn], it can be written as the following way in terms of the joint
probability distribution.

= P[x1| x2, x3,....., xn]P[x2, x3,....., xn]

= P[x1| x2, x3,....., xn]P[x2|x3,....., xn]....P[xn-1|xn]P[xn].

In general for each variable Xi, we can write the equation as:

P(Xi|Xi-1,........., X1) = P(Xi |Parents(Xi ))

Explanation of Bayesian network:

Let's understand the Bayesian network through an example by creating a directed
acyclic graph:

Example: Harry installed a new burglar alarm at his home to detect burglary. The
alarm reliably responds at detecting a burglary but also responds for minor
earthquakes. Harry has two neighbors David and Sophia, who have taken a
responsibility to inform Harry at work when they hear the alarm. David always calls
Harry when he hears the alarm, but sometimes he got confused with the phone
ringing and calls at that time too. On the other hand, Sophia likes to listen to high
music, so sometimes she misses to hear the alarm. Here we would like to compute
the probability of Burglary Alarm.

Problem:

Calculate the probability that alarm has sounded, but there is neither a
burglary, nor an earthquake occurred, and David and Sophia both called
the Harry.

Solution:

o The Bayesian network for the above problem is given below. The network
structure is showing that burglary and earthquake is the parent node of the
alarm and directly affecting the probability of alarm's going off, but David
and Sophia's calls depend on alarm probability.
o The network is representing that our assumptions do not directly perceive
the burglary and also do not notice the minor earthquake, and they also not
confer before calling.
o The conditional distributions for each node are given as conditional
probabilities table or CPT.
o Each row in the CPT must be sum to 1 because all the entries in the table
represent an exhaustive set of cases for the variable.
o In CPT, a boolean variable with k boolean parents contains 2 K probabilities.
Hence, if there are two parents, then CPT will contain 4 probability values

List of all events occurring in this network:

o Burglary (B)
o Earthquake(E)
o Alarm(A)
o David Calls(D)
o Sophia calls(S)

We can write the events of problem statement in the form of probability: P[D, S, A,
B, E], can rewrite the above probability statement using joint probability
distribution:

P[D, S, A, B, E]= P[D | S, A, B, E]. P[S, A, B, E]

=P[D | S, A, B, E]. P[S | A, B, E]. P[A, B, E]

= P [D| A]. P [ S| A, B, E]. P[ A, B, E]

= P[D | A]. P[ S | A]. P[A| B, E]. P[B, E]

= P[D | A ]. P[S | A]. P[A| B, E]. P[B |E]. P[E]

Let's take the observed probability for the Burglary and earthquake component:

P(B= True) = 0.002, which is the probability of burglary.

P(B= False)= 0.998, which is the probability of no burglary.

P(E= True)= 0.001, which is the probability of a minor earthquake

P(E= False)= 0.999, Which is the probability that an earthquake not occurred.

We can provide the conditional probabilities as per the below tables:

Conditional probability table for Alarm A:

The Conditional probability of Alarm A depends on Burglar and earthquake:

 B E P(A= True) P(A=

True True 0.94 0.0

True False 0.95 0.0

False True 0.31 0.6

False False 0.001 0.9

Conditional probability table for David Calls:

The Conditional probability of David that he will call depends on the probability of
Alarm.

A P(D= True) P(D= False)

True 0.91 0.09

False 0.05 0.95

Conditional probability table for Sophia Calls:

The Conditional probability of Sophia that she calls is depending on its Parent Node
"Alarm."

A P(S= True) P(S= False)

True 0.75 0.25

False 0.02 0.98

From the formula of joint distribution, we can write the problem statement in the
form of probability distribution:

P(S, D, A, ¬B, ¬E) = P (S|A) *P (D|A)*P (A|¬B ^ ¬E) *P (¬B) *P (¬E).

= 0.75* 0.91* 0.001* 0.998*0.999

= 0.00068045.

Hence, a Bayesian network can answer any query about the domain by
using Joint distribution.

The semantics of Bayesian Network:

There are two ways to understand the semantics of the Bayesian network, which is
given below:

1. To understand the network as the representation of the Joint probability

distribution.

It is helpful to understand how to construct the network.

2. To understand the network as an encoding of a collection of conditional

independence statements.

It is helpful in designing inference procedure.