The Acquisition of Strategic Knowledge

KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION IS THE TRANSFER AND TRANSFORMATION OF EXPERTISE FROM HUMAN EXPERTS INTO COMPUTER PROGRAMS CALLED KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS. THE PROBLEM OF KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION IS THE CRITICAL BARRIER TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS. THIS RESEARCH FOCUSES ON THE PROBLEM OF ACQUIRING "STRATEGIC KNOWLEDGE"---KNOWLEDGE USED BY AN AGENT TO DECIDE WHAT ACTION TO PERFORM NEXT, WHERE ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES IN THE EXTERNAL WORLD. STRA- TEGIC KNOWLEDGE IS ESPECIALLY DIFFICULT TO ACQUIRE FROM EXPERTS BY CONVEN- TIONAL METHODS, AND IT IS TYPICALLY IMPLEMENTED WITH LOW-LEVEL PRIMITIVES BY A KNOWLEDGE ENGINEER. THIS DISSERTATION PRESENTS A METHOD FOR PARTIALLY AUTOMATING THE ACQUIS- ITION OF STRATEGIC KNOWLEDGE FROM EXPERTS. THE METHOD CONSISTS OF A REPRE- SENTATION FOR STRATEGIC KNOWLEDGE, A TECHNIQUE FOR ELICITING STRATEGY FROM EXPERTS, AND A LEARNING PROCEDURE FOR TRANSFORMING THE INFORMATION ELICITED FROM EXPERTS INTO OPERATIONAL AND GENERAL FORM. THE KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTA- TION IS FORMULATED AS "STRATEGY RULES" THAT ASSOCIATE STRATEGIC SITUATIONS WITH EQUIVALENCE CLASSES OF APPROPRIATE ACTIONS. THE ELICITATION TECHNIQUE IS BASED ON A LANGUAGE OF "JUSTIFICATIONS" WITH WHICH THE EXPERT EXPLAINS WHY A KNOWLEDGE SYSTEM SHOULD HAVE CHOSEN A PARTICULAR ACTION IN A SPECIFIC STRATEGIC SITUATION. THE LEARNING PROCEDURE GENERATES STRATEGY RULES FROM EXPERT JUSTIFICATIONS IN TRAINING CASES, AND GENERALIZES NEWLY-FORMED RULES