Within the Letter of the Law: Open-Textured Planning

Abstract

Most case-based reasoning systems have used a single "best" or "most similar" case as the basis for a solution. For many problems, however, there is no single exact solution. Rather, there is a range of acceptable answers. We use cases not only as a basis for a solution, but also to indicate the boundaries within which a solution can be found. We solve problems by choosing some point within those boundaries. In this paper, I discuss this use of cases with illustrations from chiron, a system I have implemented in the domain of personal income tax planning. 1 Introduction Most case-based reasoning (CBR) systems to date have used a single "best" or "most similar" case as the basis for a solution. For many problems, however, there is no single exact solution. Rather, there is a range of acceptable answers. We use cases not only as a basis for a solution, but also to indicate the boundaries within which a solution can be found. We solve problems by choosing some point within those boundari...