On 14.09.2023 at 11 a.m., the 23rd lecture of the Living Lab lecture series took place. In this talk, Filippo De Bortoli from TU Dresden talked about How to Design Logic-Based Decision Assistants – Performance vs. Expressiveness.

How to Design Logic-Based Decision Assistants – Performance vs. Expressiveness

Description Logics are languages that can be used to organize knowledge and information about a topic of interest in a structured way, so that it can be understood and processed by automated reasoning systems. We can extend a Description Logic with different kinds of constructors, each contributing to the expressiveness of the language and the computational complexity of reasoning with it. If we were interested in structuring quantitative knowledge about healthcare and biological systems, we might want to state rules such as “the probability that a subject suffers from disease X given that they exhibit at least a symptom of type Y is between 30 and 50%” or add numerical attributes and say, for instance, that “if a region A contains X virus units according to a certain quantification method and B is a subregion of A, then B has contains Y < X virus units”. 

In his research, Filippo De Bortoli investigates the expressive power of Description Logics extended with quantitative constructors using model theory, which is a branch of mathematical logic that studies the interactions between theories stated in a formal language and structures that satisfy these theories. In this lecture, he is going to provide a high-level overview of the mathematical tools that are used to distinguish Description Logics from one another and to characterize their expressive power.

Living Lab Lecture Series

The Living Lab Lecture Series gives you an in-depth insight into the many research topics of ScaDS.AI Dresden/Leipzig. From Natural Language Processing to Ethics and Moral Code in AI, a great variety of topics are discussed. You can join our lectures every first thursday of the month or watch them on YouTube afterwards. If you have ideas for topics to discuss in the future, please let our Living Lab team know. We suggest for you to regularly check our event calendar, to never miss out on upcoming lectures or other interesting events organized by or in cooperation with our center.

FAQ

How can I participate in the lecture?

You can reach the permanent room for all lectures here: https://tud.link/i8zf

When will the room become accessible to the audience?

The room will be accessible 5 minutes before the start of the lecture.

Who can participate in the Living Lab activities?

The participation is free for everyone.

Do I need to be familiar with topics such as Big Data and AI to benefit from the lectures?

No! Not at all. One of our goals in the Living Lab lecture series is to familiarize everyone with these topics.

Is there any technical requirements to participate in the lecture?

You just need an up-to-date browser such as Firefox, Google Chrome or Chromium. We would also recommend using headphones for better audio quality.

Should I also turn on my camera/microphone during the lecture?

Not unless you would like to! In general, there is no need to have a camera or microphone to participate in the lecture.

In that case, how can I ask a question and provide feedback?

Alongside joining the discussion with your camera and microphone, there is also the possibility to submit your question and comments as a written comment in the Chat section.

How can I easily get informed about future activities of the Living Lab?

• • Follow us on X: @Sca_DS

• • Follow us on LinkedIn: ScaDS.AI Dresden/Leipzig

• • Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv7EDPwovn6T1iaMbhlpFjg

• • Subscribe to our mailing list: https://mailman.zih.tu-dresden.de/groups/listinfo/livinglab

Can I participate with my smartphone?