Knowledge Acquisition

Knowledge Acquisition
• Knowledge acquisition is process of adding
new knowledge to a knowledge base and
refining or otherwise improving that was
previously acquired.
• Purpose of acquisition of knowledge
– expanding the capabilities of a system
– Improving the performance of the system
• Also known as goal oriented creation and
refinement of knowledge
Knowledge Acquisition
• Knowledge acquisition may consists of facts, rules,
concepts, procedures, heuristics, formulas,
relationships, statistics, or other useful information.

• Sources of knowledge acquisition

– Expert of domain of interest
– Textbooks
– Technical papers
– Databases
– Reports
– The environment
Knowledge Acquisition
• Machine learning is a specialized for of
knowledge acquisition.
• It is any method of autonomous knowledge
creation or refinement through the use of
computer program.
• While knowledge acquisition, the acquired
knowledge should be integrated with existing
knowledge in some meaningful way.
Knowledge Acquisition
• Acquired knowledge should be accurate, non
redundant, consistent (non contradicting) and
complete in sense that it is possible to reason
about the conclusion for which the system is
intended.
Learning Method
• Learning Method is depending upon
– The type of material to be learned
– The amount of relevant knowledge we already
possess
– The environment in which the learning takes place
• Learning method taxonomy is based on
– Types of KR used (predicates, rules, frames)
– The type of knowledge learned (concept, game
playing, problem solving)
– The area of application (Medical diagnosis, prediction)
Learning Method
• Learning method classification is independent of
domain and knowledge representation method
used.
• Classification is based on inference strategy used
• The learning methods
– Memorization (rote learning)
– Direct instruction (by being told)
– Analogy
– Induction
– Deduction
Learning Method
• Memorization : It is simplest form of learning. It
requires the least amount of inference and is
accomplished by simply copying the knowledge
in the same form that it will be used directly into
the knowledge base.

• Direct Instruction : This type of learning requires

more inference then rote learning since the
knowledge must be transformed into an
operational form before being integrated into the
knowledge base
Learning Method
• Analogical Learning : In this process of
learning a new concept or solution through
the use of similar known concepts or
solutions. This type of learning require more
inference since difficult to transforms must be
made between the known and unknown
situations.
Learning Method
• Deductive Method :It is accomplished through
a sequence of deductive inference steps using
known facts. From the known facts, new facts
or relationships are logically derived.
Deductive learning requires more inference.
Learning Model
• New knowledge must be created from input
stimulus
• This new knowledge then be assimilated into
the knowledge base
• The new knowledge is then tested for its
utility (testing means the knowledge should
be used in the performance of some task from
which meaningful feedback can be obtained)
Learning Model
Stimuli Learner Feedback
Component

Environment Critic
or Teacher Performance
Knowledge Base Evaluator

Response
Performance
Component
Task
Performance Measures
• Generality : It is a measure of the ease with
which the method can be adapted to different
domain application
• Efficiency : Efficiency of a method is an
average time required to construct the target
knowledge structure from some specified
initial strucutre
Performance Measures
• Robustness : Robustness is ability of a learning system
to function with unreliable feedback and with a variety
of training examples including noisy ones

• Efficacy : It is a measure of the overall power of the

system. It is a combination of factors generality,
efficiency and robustness

• Ease of implementation : It relates to the complexity of

the programs and data structures and the resources
required to develop the given learning system