---
title: "Representation and Use of Explicit Justifications for Knowledge Base Refinements"
authors:
  - "Reid G. Smith"
  - "Howard A. Winston"
  - "Tom M. Mitchell"
  - "Bruce G. Buchanan"
doi: ""
url: "https://ijcai.org/proceedings/1985/131"
pdf: "https://ijcai.org/proceedings/1985/0131.pdf"
venue: "Proceedings of the Ninth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence"
year: 1985
pages: "673-679"
track: "Learning and Acquisition"
keywords:
---

# Representation and Use of Explicit Justifications for Knowledge Base Refinements

Reid G. Smith, Howard A. Winston, Tom M. Mitchell, Bruce G. Buchanan

*Proceedings of the Ninth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence*, pages 673-679.

## Abstract

We discuss the representation and use of justification structures as an a id to knowledge base refinement . We s how how justifica· lions can be used by a system to generate explanations- for its o wn use- of potential causes of observed failures. We discuss specific information that is usefully included in these justifications to allow th e system to isolate potential faulty supporting beliefs for its rules and to effect repa1rs . This research is part of a larger effort to develop a Learning Apprentice System (LAS) that partially automates initial construction of a knowledge base from first -principle domain knowledge as well as knowledge base refinement during routine use. A simple implementation has been constructed that demonstrates the feasi bility of building such a system.