ML Anthology

A Partial Taxonomy of Knowledge About Actions

Eugene Charniak
IJCAI 1975 pp. 91-98
/ijcai/1975/charniak1975ijcai-partial/

Abstract

An incomplete taxonomy is proposed for the knowledge of actions a computer must have if it is to understand stories about people performing these actions. The classification is along two dimensions, Force - why a person should follow the rule, and Form - what the rule looks like. Four kinds of force are distinguished, Strict, Social, Suggested, and Regulatory, while six forms are distinguished, Subactions, Substates, Side Conditions, Methods, Time Orderings, and Do-Whiles. For the most part it seems that any force type may combine with any form type in producing a rule. One example, how to use an umbrella, is examined in detail although facts about many human activities, from playing bridge to washing one's hair, are used as examples.

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Text

Charniak. "A Partial Taxonomy of Knowledge About Actions." International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 1975.

Markdown

[Charniak. "A Partial Taxonomy of Knowledge About Actions." International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 1975.](https://mlanthology.org/ijcai/1975/charniak1975ijcai-partial/)

BibTeX

@inproceedings{charniak1975ijcai-partial,
  title     = {{A Partial Taxonomy of Knowledge About Actions}},
  author    = {Charniak, Eugene},
  booktitle = {International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence},
  year      = {1975},
  pages     = {91-98},
  url       = {https://mlanthology.org/ijcai/1975/charniak1975ijcai-partial/}
}