An introduction to Cyc for the neural/statistical learning audience, followed by a description of Semantic Construction Grammar, a knowledge extraction techniques that produces rich, inferentially productive representations of text. Included are six challenges to the NIPS audience from the point of view of logic-based AI

1. semantic construction grammar
+
how can NIPS help with deep reading
michael @witbrock

2. WHAT’S THE POINT OF CYC
3-Stage Research Program for AI
1. Slowly hand-code a very large and very broad
KB.
2. When enough knowledge is present, the system
should actively help with the KA process. It
should be faster to acquire more from texts,
databases, [websites], interactive dialogues,
etc.
3. To go beyond the frontier of human knowledge,
the system will have to rely on learning by
discovery, to expand its KB domain by domain.
(Doug Lenat)

3. CYC KNOWLEDGE BASE
Euro
isa
Education
Mathematics
Planet
Vehicles
Cat
Thing
Learning
Physics
Working
Driving
Human
Time Tree
isa
Hatred
isa
isa
Cat
isa
Words
Chemistry
Nature
Money
Time
located in Emotions
Celestial Earth
Euro
Event
Universe
Body
Stabbing someone Learning
Animal
Fear
Event
Vehicles
Words
subclass
Food
Euro
Tree Physics
Driving
subclas
School
Learning
Mathematics
Rain
Planet
Vehicles
Cat
s
Working
LanguageEducation
Driving
Time
Emotions
EventHuman for a
Going
isa Love
Rain
Education
Hatred
Words
walk
Chemistry
Fear
Money
Euro
Emotions Earth
Stabbing someone
Hatred
Going for a
School
Learning
Fear
Vehicles
walk
Food
Education
Driving
Event
Rain
Stabbing someone
Hatred
Language
Emotions
Going for a
Love
Fear
walk
Nature Physics
Death
Tree School
Death

4. Thing
Intangible Individual
Thing
Sets
Relations
Space
Physical
Objects
Living
Things
Ecology
Natural
Geography
Political
Geography
Weather
Earth &
Solar System
Human
Beings
Human
Artifacts
Human
Anatomy &
Physiology
Partially
Tangible
Thing
Time
Events
Scripts
Artifacts
Plans
Goals
Physical
Agents
Animals
Mechanical Software
Social
Language Relations,
& Electrical Literature
Devices
Works of Art
Culture
Organization
Organizational
Actions
Organizational
Plans
Agent
Organizations
Social
Behavior
Agents
Actors
Actions
Movement
State Change
Dynamics
Plants
Temporal
Thing
Logic
Math
Borders
Geometry
Emotion
Human
Products Conceptual
Perception Behavior &
Devices Works
Belief
Actions
Vehicles
Buildings
Weapons
Paths
Spatial
Paths
Materials
Parts
Statics
Life
Forms
Spatial
Thing
Social
Activities
Human
Activities
Business &
Commerce
Purchasing
Shopping
Types of
Organizations
Politics
Warfare
Sports
Recreation
Entertainment
Transportation
& Logistics
Human
Organizations
Nations
Governments
Geo-Politics
Professions
Occupations
Travel
Communication
Law
Everyday
Living
Business,
Military
Organizations
General Knowledge about Various Domains
Specific data, facts, and observations
Cycorp © 2006

5. EVENT  TEMPORAL-THING  PARTIALLY-TANGIBLE-THING
Upper
Ontology
Core
Theories
Domain-Specific
Theories
Very specific information
(some indirect, via SKSI)
( a, b ) a  EVENT  b  EVENT 
causes( a, b )  precedes( a, b )
( m, a ) m  MAMMAL  a  ANTHRAX 
causes( exposed-to( m, a ), infected-by( m, a ) )
•
(ist FtLaudHolyCrossERCase#403921
(caused CutaneousAnthrax
(SkinLesions Ahmed_al-Haznawit)))
First Order Predicate Calculus: unambiguous; enable mechanical reasoning
Every NZr has a Queen.
Every NZr has a mother.
Higher Order Logic: contexts,
predicates as variables,
nested modals, reflection,…
NZr(x)  ruler(x,y)&Queen(y)
y.x.
x.y. NZr(x)  mother(x,y)

6. First Order
(isa AVPR2-Human-GIS GeneTypeBySpeciesAndProductFamily)
(gene-GISTypeCodesForType AVPR2-Human-GIS VasopressinV2Receptor)
With Context
In Mt : VertebratePhysiologyMt
(relationExistsAll outputsCreated IntramembranousBoneGrowthAndDevelopment FlatBone)
Each vertebrate flat
bone was created by
intramembranous
bone development.
Rule
In Mt: MolecularBiologyMt
(implies
(isa ?MOLECULE-TYPE TranscriptionFactor)
(behaviorCapable ?MOLECULE-TYPE
(ChemicalBindingEventTypeWithTypesFn TranscriptionFactor DNAMolecule)
objectOfAttachment))
Transcription factors can
bind with DNA.
Exceptions
(implies (and (isa ?MUT GeneticMutationEvent-Cellular)
(locusOfCellularProcess-Cell ?MUT ?ANCESTOR)
(isa ?ANCESTOR Cell)
(subEvents ?REPRO ?MUT))
(abnormal (TheList ?REPRO ?PROGENY ?ANCESTOR)
(implies(and
(isa ?REPRO AsexualReproductionEvent)
(outputsCreated ?REPRO ?PROGENY)
(isa ?PROGENY BiologicalLivingObject)
(doneBy ?REPRO ?ANCESTOR))
(geneticallyIdentical ?ANCESTOR ?PROGENY))))
NIPS TASK 1:
DISTRIBUTED
REP OF THIS
Normally, the progeny of asexual
reproduction are genetically
identical to the parent; however,
if the parent is a cell in which a
mutation has occurred, this rule
doesn’t apply.

7. #$TransportationEvent
#$ControllingATransportationDevice
#$TransportWithMotorizedLandVehicle
(#$SteeringFn #$RoadVehicle)
#$TransporterCrashEvent
#$VehicleAccident
#$CarAccident
#$Colliding
#$IncurringDamage
#$TippingOver
#$Navigating
#$EnteringAVehicle …

8. Is it attached to the
inside of the outer object?
– Yes -- Try
#$connectedToInside
Can it be removed by pulling, if
enough force is used, without
damaging either object?
– No -- Try #$in-Snugly
or #$screwedIn
Does the inner object
stick into the outer object?
–Yes – Try
#$sticksInto
Cycorp © 2007

9. 
Does part of the inner object
stick out of the container?
◦ None of it.
#$in-ContCompletely
◦ Yes
#$in-ContPartially
◦ No
•
#$in-ContClosed
◦ If the container were
turned around could
the contained object
fall out?
Yes
#$in-ContOpen
NIPS TASK 2:
LEARN CONCEPTS
THIS FINELY
DISTINGUISED

10. NIPS TASK 3: LEARN TO
PRODUCE COHERENT NL
FROM REPRESENTATIONS
10
incyc.cyc.com

11. Semantic Construction Grammar
representational context: Cyc vocabulary and syntax

12. a sad realisation and an opportunity
logical representations good for inference are
sometimes very far from natural language
… in unpredictable ways
… and they need to be right in ways NL does not
So, syntactic mapping is (pretty much) hopeless
BUT, storage is pretty much free,
… and inference is getting there
… and ILP works at least some of the time
(EBMT ∩ FrameNet ∩ Cyc) ► SCG
12

13. Renaissance Artists
Bronze Age Farmers
(SubcollectionOfWithRelationToFn
Artist activeDuringPeriod
TheRenaissance)
(SubcollectionOfWithRelationToFn
Farmer activeDuringPeriod
TheBronzeAge)
Kind of TimeInterval
Noun Form: not plural
Kind of Agent-Generic
Noun form

14. Attributive Adjective & Noun
(SubcollectionWithRelationToFn
Submarine
Yellow Submarine
mainColorOfObject
Yellow)
(SubcollectionWithRelationToFn
Sick Child
HumanChild
stateOfHealth
Sick)
Supporting Lexical Assertions:
(adjSemTrans Yellow-TheWord 0 RegularAdjFrame
(mainColorOfObject :NOUN YellowColor))
(adjSemTrans Sick-TheWord 0 RegularAdjFrame
(stateOfHealth :NOUN Sick))

15. NIPS TASK 1 again
15

16. (StuffFn Mushroom-Broadly)
FeedingPromotingSomething
Acre
a man
Mushroom-Broadly
FeedingEvent
feeds
a
Pepperoni
dog
AdultHumanMale
Dog
Man-TheProgram
pepperoni
EdibleMushroom
and
mushroom
pizza
HotDog
Pizza
ControllingSomething
16

17. 17

18. NIPS TASK 5: evaluate (subtype ?X ?Y) in detail
50 Generalisations:
75 Generalisations:
Agent-Underspecified BiologicalLivingObject BoundaryUnderspecified EnduringThing-Localized
Agent-Underspecified Artifact-Generic BiologicalLivingObject BoundaryUnderspecified BusinessRelatedThing Container-Underspecified
ContainerIndependentShapedThing CulturalThing EdibleMushroom
EukaryoticOrganism
FiniteSpatialThing
FixedFunctionalSystem FunctionalSystem Fungus FungusBLO
Heterotroph Individual Landmark-Underspecified LocationUnderspecified Mushroom-Broadly NaturalTangibleStuff Opaque
OrganicMaterial Organism-Whole PartiallyTangible
PolyDimensionalThing PositiveDimensionalThing RegionUnderspecified SomethingExisting SpatialThing SpatialThingLocalized SpatialThing-NonSituational SpatiallyBoundedThing
SpatiallyContinuousThing SurfaceRegion-Underspecified System
TemporalThing TemporallyContinuousThing
TemporallyExistingThing Thing ThreeDimensionalThing TrajectorUnderspecified TrueFungus (CollectionDifferenceFn
SpatialThing Situation) (CollectionUnionFn (TheSet
BiologicalLivingObject FictionalCharacter)) (CollectionUnionFn
(TheSet BiologicalLivingObject (GroupFn BiologicalLivingObject)))
(CollectionUnionFn (TheSet Fungus Bacterium)) (CollectionUnionFn
(TheSet Organism-Whole Cell)) (CollectionUnionFn (TheSet
SpatialThing VectorInterval)) (CollectionUnionFn (TheSet
TemporalThing Collection)) (MeaningInSystemFn SENSUSInformation1997 "DECOMPOSABLE-OBJECT")
Mushroom-Broadly
EdibleStuff
EnduringThing-Localized EukaryoticOrganism
FiniteSpatialThing FixedFunctionalSystem Food FoodOrDrink
FoodOrDrinkOrIngredient
FunctionalSystem Fungus
FungusBLO GroceryMarketCategory Heterotroph HumanScaleObject
Individual Landmark-Underspecified Location-Underspecified MushroomBroadly NaturalTangibleStuff NonFluidlikeTangibleThing Opaque
OrganicMaterial Organism-Whole PartiallyTangible PartiallyTangibleProduct
PolyDimensionalThing PositiveDimensionalThing Product RegionUnderspecified SolidFood SolidTangibleThing SomethingExisting
SpatialThing SpatialThing-Localized SpatialThing-NonSituational
SpatiallyBoundedThing SpatiallyContinuousThing SurfaceRegionUnderspecified System TemporalThing TemporallyContinuousThing
TemporallyExistingThing Thing ThreeDimensionalThing TrajectorUnderspecified TrueFungus (CollectionDifferenceFn SomethingExisting
Organization) (CollectionDifferenceFn SpatialThing Situation)
(CollectionUnionFn (TheSet Action Artifact-Generic PropositionalConceptualWork))
(CollectionUnionFn (TheSet BiologicalLivingObject FictionalCharacter))
(CollectionUnionFn (TheSet BiologicalLivingObject (GroupFn
BiologicalLivingObject))) (CollectionUnionFn (TheSet DurableGood ServiceEvent
Product)) (CollectionUnionFn (TheSet FirstOrderCollection Artifact-Generic))
(CollectionUnionFn (TheSet Fungus Bacterium)) (CollectionUnionFn (TheSet
Organism-Whole Cell)) (CollectionUnionFn (TheSet SolidTangibleThing
LiquidTangibleThing)) (CollectionUnionFn (TheSet SpatialThing VectorInterval))
(CollectionUnionFn (TheSet TemporalThing Collection)) (EdibleByFn
HomoSapiens) (MeaningInSystemFn SENSUS-Information1997
"DECOMPOSABLE-OBJECT") (MeaningInSystemFn SENSUS-Information1997
"NONDECOMPOSABLE-OBJECT") (MeaningInSystemFn SENSUSInformation1997 "SEPARABLE-ENTITY") …
EdibleMushroom
18

19. 110 Generalisations, including:
68 Generalisations, including:
AboveGround AerobicBLO AerobicOrganism Agent-Generic
Agent-NonArtifactual Agent-NonGeographical AgentPartiallyTangible Agent-Underspecified AirBreathingVertebrate
Agent-Underspecified Artifact Artifact-Generic ArtifactNonAgentive Boundary-Underspecified BusinessRelatedThing
Container-Underspecified ContainerIndependentShapedThing
Animal
Amniote
AnimalBLO AxisymmetricObject
BilateralObject BilaterallySymmetricObject BiologicalLivingObject
Boundary-Underspecified CanineAnimal CanisGenus Carnivore
CarnivoreOrder CellularTangibleThing ChordataPhylum
Coelomate CompositeTangibleAndIntangibleObject ContainerUnderspecified ContainerIndependentShapedThing
DiploidOrganism Diplont Dog DomesticatedAnimal
EmbodiedAgent EnduringThing-Localized EukaryoticOrganism
Eutheria FiniteSpatialThing FixedFunctionalSystem
FrontAndBackSidedObject FunctionalSystem Heterotroph
HexalateralObject Homeotherm HumanScaleObject Individual
IndividualAgent Landmark-Underspecified
LeftAndRightSidedObject Location-Underspecified Mammal
MulticellularOrganism NaturalTangibleStuff
NonFluidlikeTangibleThing NonHumanAnimal
NonPersonAnimal Opaque OrganicMaterial Organism-Whole
PartiallyIntangible PartiallyIntangibleIndividual PartiallyTangible
PerceptualAgent PerceptualAgent-Embodied
PolyDimensionalThing PositiveDimensionalThing Quadruped
Region-Underspecified Sentient SentientAnimal
SolidTangibleThing SomethingExisting SpatialThing SpatialThingLocalized SpatialThing-NonSituational SpatiallyBoundedThing
SpatiallyContinuousThing SurfaceRegion-Underspecified System
TameAnimal TemporalThing TemporallyContinuousThing
TemporallyExistingThing TerrestrialFunctioningObject
TerrestrialOrganism Thing ThreeDimensionalThing
TopAndBottomSidedObject Trajector-Underspecified Vertebrate
ViviparousAnimal …
CulturalThing
EdibleStuff
EdibleStuffComposite
EnduringThing-Localized FiniteSpatialThing Food
FoodComposite FoodOrDrink FoodOrDrinkOrIngredient
GroceryMarketCategory HotDog HumanScaleObject
InanimateObject InanimateObject-NonNatural Individual
InertArtifact Landmark-Underspecified Location-Underspecified
NonFluidlikeTangibleThing NonNaturalThing Opaque
OrganicMaterial PartiallyTangible PartiallyTangibleProduct
PolyDimensionalThing PositiveDimensionalThing PreparedFood
Product Region-Underspecified Sausage SolidFood
SolidFoodArtifact SolidTangibleArtifact SolidTangibleThing
SomethingExisting SpatialThing SpatialThing-Localized
SpatialThing-NonSituational SurfaceRegion-Underspecified
TemporalThing TemporallyExistingThing Thing
ThreeDimensionalThing Trajector-Underspecified
(CollectionDifferenceFn SomethingExisting Organization)
(CollectionDifferenceFn SpatialThing Situation)
(CollectionDifferenceFn TemporalThing BiologicalLivingObject)
(CollectionUnionFn (TheSet Action Artifact-Generic
PropositionalConceptualWork)) (CollectionUnionFn (TheSet
DurableGood ServiceEvent Product)) (CollectionUnionFn (TheSet
Event Artifact)) …
Dog
HotDog
19

20. $EdibleStuff#0 and $EdibleStuff#1 pizza
Logic: (#$equalSymbols ?PIZZA
(#$PizzaFn (#$TheSet $EdibleStuff#1 $EdibleStuff#0) ))
Var: ?PIZZA Type: #$Pizza
20

21. a $IntelligentAgent#0 feeds a $Animal#1 $EdibleStuff#2
Logic: (#$equalSymbols ?EVT (#$CollectionSubsetFn #$FeedingEvent (#$TheSetOf ?EVENT
(#$thereExists ?FEEDER (#$thereExists ?FED (#$thereExists ?FOOD (#$and (#$isa ?FOOD
$EdibleStuff#2) (#$consumedObject ?EVENT ?FOOD) (#$isa ?FED $Animal#1)
(#$recipientOfService ?EVENT ?FED) (#$isa ?FEEDER $IntelligentAgent#0) (#$providerOfService
?EVENT ?FEEDER))))))))
Var: ?EVT Type: #$FeedingEvent
21

22. Vision for KB-based Protection
(implies
(and
(programSubsumesInstruction ?PROG ?ALLOC-CALL)
(codingFunctionInvoked ?ALLOC-CALL ?ALLOC-FN)
(isa ?ALLOC-FN MemoryAllocationFunction)
(methodCallReturn ?ALLOC-CALL ?ALLOC-VAL)
(candidateNullValueInputTo ?ALLOC-VAL ?ADD-OP)
(programSubsumesInstruction ?PROG ?ADD-OP)
(arithmeticFunctionOfOperation ?ADD-OP PlusFn)
(oPHistOutputsToArgumentPosition
?ADD-OP ?ALLOC-VAL ?ARGN ?WRITE-OP)
(programSubsumesInstruction ?PROG ?WRITE-OP)
Induce high- (codingFunctionInvoked ?WRITE-OP ?WRITE-FN)
(isa ?WRITE-FN DataLocationAlteringFunction)
level
(mutableArgumentPosition ?WRITE-FN ?ARGN))
heuristics (programHasPropensityForActionOfTypeDueToStatement
?PROG ?WRITE-OP OutOfRangePointerOffsetWrite))
high-level syntax heuristic
Safely
Execute
Code
Analysis
DB
Cyc KB
and Inference
low-level heuristic
Connect
data
Specialize
Use reading
+ KA to
script
„scripted‟ attack
attack
profile
profiles

24. Reading knowledge about a code pattern

25. Describes
weak code

26. Understood code description is directly
usable with SPICE analyzed binaries
26

27. Logical Description “knows” how to use the data
NIPS TASK 6: SUPPORT THIS
LEVEL (or more) OF INFERENCE
Part of read spec
27

28. Read description of weakness allows its ID in code
& human-understandable justification
28

29. Inference During Interpretation
Plausibility reasoning
29

30. 9 Shades of Fail
Term interpretation fails lenient CycL truth test (“WFF”)
Arg required to be a collection but is not
Arg not an instance of all argument type constraints (strict)
Arg provably disjoint with a constraint (collections)
Arg is provably not-isa or not-genl a constraint (everything)
Argument is probably bad since it conflicts with implicit
argument constraints via #$relationNotExistsExists,
#$relationAllExists, or
#$someTypePlaysRoleInSituationType KB knowledge
Volume mismatch between types using
#$typicallyMoreVoluminousThan KB knowledge
Esoteric
Unlikely
30

31. Argument is probably bad since it conflicts with implicit
argument constraints via #$relationNotExistsExists,
#$relationAllExists, or
#$someTypePlaysRoleInSituationType KB knowledge
(#$SubcollectionOfWithRelationToTypeFn #$Fist
#$properPhysicalParts #$EthnicGroupOfRussians)
(relationAllExists #$Fist #$properPhysicalParts
#$AnimalBodyPart)
31

32. Volume mismatch between types
Can horses jump?: by analogy with Tahoe bars.
(#$SubcollectionOfWithRelationToTypeFn
#$SawHorse #$objectFoundInLocation #$Can)
This interpretation is blocked if we can prove:
(#$typicallyMoreVoluminousThan #$SawHorse #$Can)
32

33. Plausibility: Flat sheets of paper
Sheets that are part of an apartment unit that are part of some paper
(#$sentencePlausibilityScore
(#$Quote
(#$equalSymbols ?X
(#$SubcollectionOfWithRelationFromTypeFn
(#$SubcollectionOfWithRelationFromTypeFn #$BedSheet
#$physicalParts #$ApartmentUnit) #$physicalParts #$Paper)))
?SCORE) in #$PlausibilityQueryMt
→
?SCORE: (#$NumericLikelihoodFn 0.08)
33

34. Plausibility: “Play chamber
music”
(#$SubcollectionOfWithRelationToTypeFn
#$PlayingAMusicalInstrument #$objectActedOn #$ChamberMusic)
one can either call why-sentence-plausibility-factor:
(why-sentence-plausibility-factor
„(#$SubcollectionOfWithRelationToTypeFn
#$PlayingAMusicalInstrument #$objectActedOn #$ChamberMusic))
→
0.06
(# # (:GENLS (#$genls #$PlayingAMusicalInstrument #$PhysicalEvent)
#$PlausibilityQueryMt :TRUE-DEF) (:DISJOINTWITH (#$disjointWith
#$MusicalInstrument #$ChamberMusicComposition)
#$PlausibilityQueryMt :TRUE-DEF))
34

35. 35

36. •
•
•
•
•
Primacy of Semantics
Importance of mapping not to
“logical form”, but to logic
The frightening complexity of
human level knowledge
Importance of doing inference
during understanding
The time is now/nigh for uniting
the threads of AI
end
36

37. 37