Table of Contents
Knowledge Based System
Using the analogy of DBMS, knowledge based system can be defined as a computer system is used to manage and manipulate shared knowledge. A knowledge based system’s manipulation facility includes reasoning facility, usually including aspects of one or more of the following forms of reasoning: deductive, inductive or abductive.
Reasoning of Knowledge Based System
Deductive Reasoning
Deductive reasoning implies that a new fact can be inferred from a given set of facts or knowledge using known rules of inference. For instance, a given proposition can be found to be true or false in the light of existing knowledge in the form of other propositions believed to be either true or false.
Inductive Reasoning
Inductive reasoning is used to prove something by first providing a base fact and then the increment step; having proved these, we can prove a generalized fact.
Abductive Reasoning
Abductive reasoning is used to generating a hypothesis to explain observations. Like deductive reasoning, it points to possible inferences from related concept, however, unlike deductive reasoning; the number of inferences could be more than one.
The likelihood of knowing which of these inferences corresponds to the current state of the system can be gleaned from the explanations generated by the system. These explanations can facilities choosing among these alternatives and arriving at the final conclusion.
In addition to the reasoning facility, a knowledge based system may incorporate an explanation facility so that the user can verify whether the reasoning used by the system is consistent and complete. The reasoning facility also offers a form of tutoring to the uninitiated user. The so-called expert systems and the associated expert system generation facilities are one form of knowledge based systems that have emerged from research labs and are being marketed commercially. Since a KBMS includes reasoning capacity, there is a clear benefit I incorporating this reasoning power in database application programs in languages such as COBOL and Pascal.
Difference between Knowledge Base System and Database System
Knowledge Based System | Database System |
| In KBMS, knowledge representation schemes are used to show knowledge. | In DBMS, data models are used to show data and relationship between them. |
| Knowledge independence signifies that the knowledge stored in a system must be insulated from changes in usage in its physical or logical structure. | Data independence is the ability to modify a schema definition in one level affecting in next higher level. |
| KBMS, handles small amount of knowledge. | DBMS, handles large amount of shared data. |
| In KBMS, emphasis is placed on a robust knowledge representation scheme and extensive reasoning capability. Robust signifies that the scheme is rich in expressive power and at the same time it is efficient. | In DBMS, emphasis is placed on an efficient access and management of the data that model a portion of real work. |
| KBMS concerned with meaning of information. | DBMS concerned with information contained in data. |
;