Assumption Grammars for Knowledge Based Systems.
Verónica Dahl, Pablo Accuosto, Stephen Rochefort, Marius Scurtescu · 1998
In this paper we examine some knowledge base uses of a recently developed logic grammar formalism, Assumption Grammars, particularly suitable for hypothetical reasoning. They are based on intuitionistic and linear implications scoped over the current continuation, which allows us to follow given branches of the computation under hypotheses that disappear when and if backtracking takes place. In previous research on using Assumption Grammars [TDF96] for processing natural language [DT97], we showed that they allow abstracting time and consumer/producer relationships in complex natural language processing (relatives, anaphora), therefore resulting in more readable programs; and that they offer the flexibility of switching between data-driven or goal-driven reasoning, at no overhead in terms of either syntax or implementation. In this paper we argue that Assumption Grammars are also useful for knowledge-based systems, and that some of the techniques developed for natural language processi...