Semantic Nets are in the Eye of the Beholder
Abstract
The term semantic nets, in its broadest sense, has become virtually meaningless. It is applied to systems which, as a class, lack distinctive representational and computational properties vis a vis other knowledge representation (KR) schemes. This terminological problem is not due to lack of substance or coherence of work done under the semantic net banner. Rather, it is due to convergence of the major KR schemes: the representational and computational strategies employed in semantic net systems are abstractly equivalent to those employed in virtually all state-of-the-art systems incorporating a substantial propositional knowledge base, whether they are described as logic-based, frame-based, rule-based, or something else. In particular, I will argue that using a graph-theoretic propositional representation does not automatically distinguish it from others: even sets of PC formulas, abstractly viewed, are graphs. Nor is proximity-based inference (using graph-theoretic distance) automatically distinctive, since even resolution strategies (with reasonable indexing schemes) are proximity-based in the abstract; nor is hierarchic property inheritance any longer distinctive, given its availability in state-of-the-art logic-based, frame-based, and ruled- based systems, so I urge some more restrictive, and hence more meaningful use of the term semantic nets than is the current practice.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1990
- Accession Number
- ADA228441
Entities
People
- Lenhart K. Schubert
Organizations
- University of Rochester