First Order Rules

By
P Saranya
IV CSE B
 First-order rules in machine learning are
generally part of a logical framework that
uses First-Order Logic (FOL), also called
Predicate Logic. Unlike simpler rule-based
systems that operate on single variables or

Introduction propositional logic, first-order rules allow

relationships and attributes between
multiple objects, making them useful for
complex reasoning tasks. There are some
steps in the Process of First-Order Rule
Learning
  This is the foundational step where you define the scope
1. Define the and structure of the knowledge that the model will learn.
In First-Order Logic, knowledge is represented as a
Domain and collection of predicates and entities
 Entities: These are the objects or individuals within your
Knowledge domain,
Representation  Predicates: These represent the properties of entities or
relationships between them
 Constants and variables: Constants represent specific
instances, while variables allow generalization in rule
definitions.
  In First-Order Logic-based ML, data isn’t always in a
straightforward numerical format but often stored in
relational forms like databases or knowledge graphs. This
step involves:
2. Data  Entity Recognition and Linking: Identifying entities and

Preprocessing linking them across multiple data sources. For instance, in

text-based data, named entity recognition (NER)
and Annotation techniques may be used to tag entities.
 Relationship Annotation: Tagging relationships between
entities.
 For example, in a dataset of clinical records, a relationship
might link a "Patient" entity to a "Doctor" entity if the
doctor is treating the patient.
 • The hypothesis space outlines the types of patterns or
rules the learning algorithm will search for. This involves
specifying:
• Rule Structure and Language Constraints: Defining a rule
structure (e.g., Horn clauses) that dictates how hypotheses
3. Specify will be formed. For instance, a rule might be "if a patient
has condition X and sees a doctor Y, then Y may prescribe
Hypothesis medication Z”.
Space • Search Constraints: Defining constraints on rule search
depth and complexity to limit the hypothesis space and
prevent overfitting. Without these constraints, the
hypothesis space could become too vast to manage
effectively.
  Inductive Logic Programming (ILP) is the primary
technique for learning rules in First-Order Logic. ILP
4. Rule systems learn rules from examples by searching for
generalizations that explain positive examples while
Learning minimizing incorrect predictions for negative examples.
The ILP process involves:
Algorithm  Candidate Rule Generation: The ILP algorithm generates
(Inductive candidate rules iteratively. It examines patterns in the data
and formulates possible logical rules.
Logic  Evaluation of Candidates: Each candidate rule is
evaluated on its ability to generalize across the dataset.
Programming -  Approaches: Some common ILP approaches include
bottom-up methods that start with specific examples and
ILP) generalize them or top-down methods that start with more
general hypotheses and specialize them.
  Once candidate rules are generated, they must be
evaluated to determine which ones best capture the
underlying patterns. Evaluation metrics typically include:
 Accuracy and Precision: The degree to which the rule
correctly captures positive cases and avoids false
5. Rule positives.
 Coverage: Measures how many positive examples are
Evaluation and covered by a rule. High coverage is desired, but not at the
Selection expense of accuracy.
 Generality vs. Specificity: Balancing between rules that
generalize well across examples and rules that are too
specific. Rules should be general enough to cover a range
of cases while specific enough to remain accurate.
  Once a set of rules is selected, the next step is refinement
to ensure that the model is both effective and efficient:
 Pruning Redundant Rules: Removing rules that don’t add
new information or that are too similar to others.
6. Refinement  Merging Overlapping Rules: Combining rules that cover
and the same or very similar cases, thereby simplifying the
rule set.
Optimization  Rule Optimization: Adjusting the parameters of the rules
to better capture patterns in the data. This step may also
involve further constraints to make sure the rules are
compact and interpretable.
  This is the final step where the rule model is tested to
ensure that it performs well on new, unseen data. The
objective is to verify that the rules generalize beyond the
training dataset:
 Cross-Validation or Test Set Evaluation: Using a test

7. Validation dataset to assess rule accuracy and generalization.

 Error Analysis: Analyzing errors to identify areas where
and Testing the model might be overfitting or underfitting, possibly
leading to adjustments in earlier steps (e.g., refining the
hypothesis space or rule constraints).
 Real-World Evaluation: Testing on real-world data if
available, to confirm that the model’s rules are robust and
practical for the intended application.
  ∃x Likes(x, IceCream)"There exists someone who likes
ice cream.“
 ∀x (Student(x) → NeedsToPass(x, Exam))"All students
need to pass the exam.“
 ∀t (Teacher(t) → ∃s (Student(s) ∧ Teaches(t, s)))"Every
Examples teacher has at least one student.“
 ∃x ∀y Admires(x, y)"There is someone who admires
everyone.“
 ∀x (Programmer(x) → ∃y (ProgrammingLanguage(y) ∧
Knows(x, y)))"If someone is a programmer, then they
know at least one programming language."
Thank you