INT4204

INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS
KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION AND
EXPERT SYSTEM
FRAME
 Frames
A frame is a third technique for representing knowledge into a
collection or bundle where the knowledge contained in the frame
is common to the situation
Frames
Devised by Marvin Minsky, 1974
All knowledge about object
Hierarchical structure allows for inheritance
Allows for diagnosis of knowledge independence
Object-oriented programming
◦ Knowledge organized by characteristics and attributes
◦ Slots
◦ Subslots/facets
◦ Parents are general attributes
◦ Instantiated to children
Often combined with production rules
 Frames
• Frames are a way of representing knowledge in which each concept in a domain is
described by a group of attributes and values using a matrix representation.
• The left-hand column represents the attributes associated with the concept and the right-
hand column represents the appropriate values.
• When the concept is a class, typical (default) values are entered in the right-hand column.
• An example of a frame is shown the table below for the concept Novel Novel.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
              
 Frames
Provide a method for representing facts and relationships.
 
• Describes an object which contains slots for all the info
associated with that object.
slot : is a component of an object which contains values,
default values, pointers to other frames, sets of rules or
procedures.
E.g.
 
              SLOTS                        ENTRIES
              Name of frame    :                        Toaster
              Type of  frame    :                         Toaster condition
              Heating element :                        Glows
 
              Fuse                    :                        OK
              Thermostat         :                        Working order
 Frames

Frame Name Tweety

Frame Name Bird
Class Bird
Properties
Colou Brown
Properties Colou Yellow
r
r
Eats Worms
Eats Insects
Wing 2
# Wing 2
#
Flies True
Flies True
Activi -
ty Activi -
ty
Lives Tree
 Frames Inheritance
Instance frame inherits
information from its subclass
frame and also its class.

• Inheritance of behavior, facet

• Ease coding & modification
of information
Inheritance in Semantic Nets & Frame
 Advantages of Frames

• Classes and instances organize a flat

knowledge base (unlike FOL) by introducing
structure on an epistemological level
E.g., specialization of subclasses through restriction of a range of values
for a property
• Simple; easy to understand
• Inheritance is captured in a natural, modular fashion
• Efficient inference (e.g., for validation) by following
links, compared to standard logics
 Problems with Frames

• Negation cannot be represented

Jim does not have pneumonia
• Disjunction cannot be represented naturally
Jim has Mumps or Rubella
• Qualification is not a part of the language
All of Jim’s diseases are infectious
ÞThus, procedural attachments are often added

• The semantics of the links are often not well

defined [“What’s in a Link,” Woods, 1975]