Higher-order and modal logic as a framework for explanation-based generalization

摘要

Certain tasks, such as formal program development and theorem proving, fundamentally rely upon the manipulation of higher-order objects such as functions and predicates. Computing tools intended to assist in performing these tasks are at present inadequate in both the amount of ‘knowledge’ they contain (i.e., the level of support they provide) and in their ability to ‘learn’ (i.e., their capacity to enhance that support over time). The application of a relevant machine learning technique—explanation-based generalization (EBG)—has thus far been limited to first-order problem representations. We extend EBG to generalize higher-order values, thereby enabling its application to higher-order problem encodings.