Ron Wheeler wrote: (01)
> I am not sure that ontology can be applied to high value projects
> without some elements of AI. (02)
I always assumed that "axiomatic ontology" was one branch of AI. (03)
> I am looking for intelligent agents (that are not humans - which I
> think, implies artificial) that can draw actionable conclusions in
> complex situations faster than humans. (04)
I think that is the general idea in knowledge engineering. And it also
applies to the Semantic Web. The idea is to allow the engine to discard
the chaff in the Google results and present you with only the grain. (05)
> The other side of the equation is the tool sets that make it easy for a
> SME (Subject Matter Expert) to transfer his or her understanding of the
> universe into a model. (06)
There is work going on in that area, but it is definitely not ready for
prime time. There are 5 or 6 "structured English" projects, but they
don't really help the domain expert become a modeler, which is a skill.
And there is the automated text analysis work, which keeps getting
better and better, but still isn't good. (Natural language is just too
messy. It is amazing that we ever understand one another.) The hybrid
approach starts with a "sketch ontology" of the domain, and then uses
either the expert or the text to refine it. (07)
> I failed to realize that the gaining of PhDs was the only goal in life.
> (Too much time spent in the real world!) (08)
That is really a Catch-22. Much of the government grant money goes to
academic institutions. Most of the research, and almost all of the
product, of academic institutions is done with student labor. Capable
students are willing to perform the labors of Hercules for a pittance,
as long as it leads to a degree in a few years. Degrees are granted for
advancing the knowledge base of the science. If a reputable institution
takes the money to build an ontology, it can't find a competent student
to do the work, because it can't give a degree for recording existing
knowledge. So the ontology work has to be coupled with some ostensible
technological advance, and the latter becomes the dominant theme of the
work (and usually vitiates any value there may have been in the
ontology). The only way the work actually gets done is under some other
umbrella: the student is given the task of building the Augean stables
ontology, "as a learning experience", before he will be allowed to do
the exciting work that will lead to his advanced degree. (09)
> The SME has the job of building the model of a fair amount of the universe.
> This SME might only have a high school education or junior college
> degree but he is the guy most knowledgeable about the relationship
> between valve 295 and the rest of the universe.
> His knowledge may save a petrochemical plant as much money in one day as
> a PhD makes in a lifetime and may save many more lives. (010)
And all that is required is a skilled knowledge engineer (with or
without Ph.D.) who gets to talk to the SME, can find out that valve 295
is significant, can determine from that conversation how it is related
to the rest of the plant universe, and can properly add that knowledge
to the ontology. (011)
I am reminded of the senior manager who asked why no one in his
organization had made the model we presented. Voice from the back of
the room: "Because it's nobody's <expletive> job to know how, and
nobody's <expletive> job to do it." (012)
There is always a reason why certain things don't happen (and another
well-known substance does). (013)
-Ed (014)
--
Edward J. Barkmeyer Email: edbark@xxxxxxxx
National Institute of Standards & Technology
Manufacturing Systems Integration Division
100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8263 Tel: +1 301-975-3528
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8263 FAX: +1 301-975-4694 (015)
"The opinions expressed above do not reflect consensus of NIST,
and have not been reviewed by any Government authority." (016)
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