Aspects of Intelligence in an "SP" Database System

Abstract

This chapter describes some of the kinds of “intelligence” that may be exhibited by an intelligent database system based on the SP theory of computing and cognition. The chapter complements an earlier paper on the SP theory as the basis for an intelligent database system (Wolff, forthcoming b) but it does not depend on a reading of that earlier paper. The chapter introduces the SP theory and its main attractions as the basis for an intelligent database system: that it uses a simple but versatile format for diverse kinds of knowledge, that it integrates and simplifies a range of AI functions, and that it supports established database models when that is required. Then with examples and discussion, the chapter illustrates aspects of “intelligence” in the system: pattern recognition and information retrieval, several forms of probabilistic reasoning, the analysis and production of natural language, and the unsupervised learning of new knowledge.