Building KBs by Assembling Components

1
Building KBs by Assembling Components

• Bruce Porter (UT Austin)
• Peter Clark (Boeing)

2
The Problem

• Representations are complex to build from scratch
• SMEs not able to encode knowledge directly
• But
• representations contain repeated abstractions
• production occurs in photosynthesis, mitosis,
  growth
• germination includes conversion, production,
  expansion

3
Building Representations from Reusable Components
Hypothesis

• KBs can be constructed easily by connecting
  pre-built, intermediate-level representations
  (components)

Approach

• Knowledge engineers build a component library
  containing high-level and mid-level core
  concepts.
• SMEs build knowledge bases by instantiating and
  assembling the components.

4
Example Representation of Virus Attack
Cell
patient
parts
parts
agent
contains
Virus Attack
Membrane
Cytoplasm
Virus
DNA
contains
contains
agent
patient
subevents
patient
Lysosome
patient
patient
agent
location
Arrive
Penetrate
Enter
Uncoat
Exit
Attach
contains
then
then
then
then
then
agent
Acid

• Are there identifiable components in here?
• How can we encode them?
• How can an SME use them to build representations
  such as this one?

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One component...
Cell
patient
parts
parts
agent
contains
Virus Attack
Membrane
Cytoplasm
Virus
DNA
contains
contains
agent
patient
subevents
patient
Lysosome
patient
patient
agent
location
Arrive
Penetrate
Enter
Uncoat
Exit
Attach
contains
then
then
then
then
then
agent
Acid
Object
defender
defense
attacker
Barrier
Invade
Agent
agent
subevents
patient
location
agent
agent
agent
Arrive
Break
Enter
then
then
6
Another component...
Cell
patient
parts
parts
agent
contains
Virus Attack
Membrane
Cytoplasm
Virus
DNA
contains
contains
agent
patient
subevents
patient
Lysosome
patient
patient
agent
location
Arrive
Penetrate
Enter
Uncoat
Exit
Attach
contains
then
then
then
then
then
agent
Acid
Agent
recipient
Container
instrument
contains
patient
Deliver
Agent
Object
agent
subevents
Release
Convey
then
.
Move
Move
7
Another component...
Cell
patient
parts
parts
agent
contains
Virus Attack
Membrane
Cytoplasm
DNA
Virus
contains
contains
agent
patient
subevents
patient
Lysosome
patient
patient
agent
location
Arrive
Penetrate
Enter
Uncoat
Exit
Attach
contains
then
then
then
then
then
agent
Acid
contains
Container
Object
patient
Release
agent
subevents
patient
Open
Exit
then
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Encoding Components

• Move event that changes the location of a
  TangibleThing
• Convey Move of a Container and its contents

(every Convey has (patient ((a Container)))
the Defining
property (causes ((forall (the contains of
(the patient of Self))
(a Move with
(patient ((It)))
(source ((the source of Self)))
(destination ((the destination of
Self)))
(concurrent-with ((Self))) )))))
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Encoding Components
Move event that changes the location of a
TangibleThing Convey Move of a Container and
its contents Release Undo of a Hold Deliver
Convey then Release
(every Deliver has (agent ((a Container)))
(patient ((a TangibleThing))) (subevents ((a
Convey with (agent
((the agent of Self)))
(patient ((the patient of Self)))
(nextEvent ((the Release subevents
of Self)))) (a Release with
(agent ((the agent
of Self))) (patient
((the patient of Self)))))))
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Encoding Components
Move event that changes the location of a
TangibleThing Convey Move of a Container and
its contents Release Undo of a Hold Deliver
Convey then Release Container Barrier that
separates two Spaces, inside and outside Enter
Move into a Container through a Portal
(Enter has (superclasses (Move)) (every Enter has
(beneficiary ((a Container))) (source
((the outside of (the beneficiary of Self)))
(destination ((the inside of (the beneficiary of
Self))) (through ((oneof (the portal of (the
beneficiary of Self))))))
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SME Using Components1. Specializing a single
component

• Vascular Tissue as a type of conduit
• the conduit in transportation of water from
  the root system to the shoot system of a plant
• Endocytosis as a type of take in
• the process by which a cell takes in particles
• from outside the cell.

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SME Using Components2. Combining several
components

• Photosynthesis
• production of glucose from CO2 and water
• conversion of energy from sunlight to
  chemical bonds

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SME Using Components ExampleThis slide to be
heard, not seen

• Now were going to show how the SME might build
  the earlier Virus Attack concept using components
• This is kind-of a reverse of the abstraction
  process illustrated earlier
• This is not the user interface, it just
  illustrates the operations.

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SME Using Components Example
The knowledge which the SME wants to encode
During a virus attack, a virus invades a
cell. The virus delivers its DNA into the cell.
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SME Using Components Example
1. Name the new concept
Virus Attack
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SME Using Components Example
2. Locate Invade, Cell, and Virus in the
library
Virus Attack
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SME Using Components Example
3. Relate Cell and Virus to their roles in Invade
Virus Attack
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4. System combines the components
defender
attacker
Virus Attack
agent
subevents
patient
location
agent
agent
agent
Arrive
Break
Enter
then
then
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5. SME locates another component, Deliver, in
the library
defender
attacker
Virus Attack
agent
subevents
patient
location
agent
agent
agent
Arrive
Break
Enter
then
then
Container
instrument
contains
recipient
patient
Deliver
Agent
Agent
Object
agent
subevents
Release
Convey
patient
then
.
Move
Move
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6. SME relates roles in Deliver to objects in
Virus Attack
defender
attacker
Virus Attack
agent
subevents
patient
location
agent
agent
Arrive
Break
Enter
then
then
Container
instrument
recipient
patient
Deliver
Agent
Agent
Object
agent
subevents
Release
Convey
patient
then
.
Move
Move
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7. System combines the components
defender
attacker
Virus Attack
agent
patient
subevents
patient
Release
location
Convey
then
subevents
Arrive
Break
Enter
then
then
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8. SME locates component for Release
defender
attacker
Virus Attack
agent
patient
subevents
patient
Release
location
Convey
then
subevents
Arrive
Break
Enter
then
then
contains
Container
Object
patient
Release
agent
subevents
patient
Open
Exit
then
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9. System combines the components
defender
attacker
Virus Attack
agent
patient
subevents
patient
Release
location
Convey
then
subevents
Arrive
Break
Enter
then
then
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Summary

• KBs can be constructed easily by connecting
  pre-built, intermediate-level representations
  (components)
• Knowledge engineers will build a component
  library containing high-level and mid-level core
  concepts.
• SMEs will build knowledge bases by instantiating
  and assembling the components.