Knowledge Representation and Reasoning - Characteristics

Characteristics

A good knowledge representation covers six basic characteristics:

• Coverage, which means the KR covers a breadth and depth of information. Without a wide coverage, the KR cannot determine anything or resolve ambiguities.
• Understandable by humans. KR is viewed as a natural language, so the logic should flow freely. It should support modularity and hierarchies of classes (Polar bears are bears, which are animals). It should also have simple primitives that combine in complex forms.
• Consistency. If John closed the door, it can also be interpreted as the door was closed by John. By being consistent, the KR can eliminate redundant or conflicting knowledge.
• Efficient
• Easiness for modifying and updating.
• Supports the intelligent activity which uses the knowledge base

To gain a better understanding of why these characteristics represent a good knowledge representation, think about how an encyclopedia (e.g. Wikipedia) is structured. There are millions of articles (coverage), and they are sorted into categories, content types, and similar topics (understandable). It redirects different titles but same content to the same article (consistency). It is efficient, easy to add new pages or update existing ones, and allows users on their mobile phones and desktops to view its knowledge base.