4: Inference
- the formal foundations of the Semantic Web allow us to infer
additional statements that aren't explicitly made
- example: subproperties let us infer that if Joe is my father, he is also my parent
- my view: 90% of the "interesting" inference (beyond subclasses and subproperties) will happen in 10% of Semantic Web applications
- a number of mechanisms allow us to infer that 2 objects are the same
(details)
- DAML Rules
will allow us to make additional inferences beyond
those provided by DAML+OIL and OWL
- example: if a Person is employedBy an Organization (such as DARPA), they are
also employedBy its parent (USDepartmentOfDefense)
- the Semantic Web focuses on logical inference,
but could also support statistical inference
