Algebraic Operations on Flexible Constraints Based on Knowledge Comparison

Knowledge used for helping in choice processes in artificial intelligence (AI) essentially consists of sets of constraints. Flexible constraints are extensively studied and have become attractive in AI. In this paper, we focus on algebraic operations on flexible constraints, which are very useful in knowledge management (e.g., knowledge integration). For this purpose, we identify the semantic relationship between flexible constraints. On this basis, we define the operations on flexible constraints. In particular, the notion of semantic inclusion degree is introduced to flexibly assess the semantic relationship between flexible constraints.