Intermediate · Fundamentals
Inference engine
Visual diagram · (in preparation) · Math · (in preparation) · Worked example · 3 difficulty levels.
TL;DR. A component of an AI system that uses logical rules to deduce new information from a knowledge base.
Technical Definition
A component of an AI system that uses logical rules to deduce new information from a knowledge base.
How it works
An inference engine is the 'brain' of a rule-based AI system. It takes a set of known facts (the knowledge base) and applies a series of logical rules to these facts. Through this process, it can derive new facts or conclusions that were not explicitly stated, enabling the system to reason and solve problems.
Related Concepts
- Expert system — AI programs that mimic the decision-making ability of a human expert using a knowledge base and inference rules.
- Rule-based system — AI systems that use human-defined rules to store and manipulate knowledge.