AI, KNOWLEDGE, INFORMATION AND DATA

“Knowledge is the capacity to give correct answers to questions.”

“There is no well trodden path that takes a straight line from symbols, through data to knowledge and wisdom. This is just some nonsense invented by the IT industry.” – Martyn Jones

We may define data as being the symbolic representation of value or conversely of something which has no attached value. Data may represent, among other things, time, money, resources or worldly objects.

However, when we put data into a context, for example, if we specifically say that a data item relates to something, we have redefined that data, plus its context, as information.

Knowledge, in this sense, represents the interpretation of the relevant available data, information and other knowledge in the context of a request for an answer or action.

We can further define business knowledge as the guiding and controlling factors used in:

• Interpretation – Inferring situation descriptions from sensor data
• Prediction – Inferring likely consequences of given situations
• Diagnosis – Inferring system malfunctions from observables
• Design – Configuring objects under constraints
• Planning – Designing actions
• Monitoring – Comparing observations to plan vulnerabilities
• Debugging – Prescribing remedies for malfunctions
• Repair – Executing a plan to administer a prescribed remedy
• Instruction – Diagnosing, debugging and repairing behavior
• Control – Interpreting, predicting, repairing and monitoring systems behavior

In basic terms there are two basic sorts of knowledge: domain specific knowledge, which is the knowledge of facts in a limited subject; and heuristic knowledge, which is the knowledge of how to solve problems.

Thanks for reading.

Bentov’s Law – One’s level of ignorance increases exponentially with accumulated knowledge.  When one acquires a bit of new information, there are many new questions that are generated by it, and each new piece of information breeds five-ten new questions.  These questions pile up at a much faster rate than does accumulated knowledge.  Therefore, the more one knows, the greater his level of ignorance.