We present a model for anchoring categorical conceptual information which originates from physical perception and the web. The model is an extension of the anchoring framework which is used to create and maintain over time semantically grounded sensor information. Using the augmented anchoring framework that employs complex symbolic knowledge from a commonsense knowledge base, we attempt to gro...

Recent advances in automated knowledge base construction have created new opportunities to address one of the hardest challenges in Artificial Intelligence: automated commonsense reasoning. In this paper, we describe our recent efforts in mining commonsense knowledge from the personal stories that people write about their lives in their Internet weblogs. We summarize three preliminary investiga...

An important difference between traditional AI systems and human intelligence is our ability to harness common sense knowledge gleaned from a lifetime of learning and experiences to inform our decision-making and behavior. This allows humans to adapt easily to novel situations where AI fails catastrophically for lack of situation-specific rules and generalization capabilities. In order for mach...

KT encodes commonsense knowledge (CK) about entities and relations in a cross-classified Ontology and a database of generic (prototypical and inherent) information. The verb Ontology combines linguistic and psycholinguistic classification. The generic information for verbs encodes typical associations with actions and events. This knowledge base is useful for word-sense disambiguation, inferenc...

We present a prototype of an on-line assistant to support a training course about workspace safety issues. The application uses a common sense reasoning engine and the Brazilian Open Mind common sense knowledge base, to make inferences about concepts that might be unfamiliar to the students. We explore the use of metaphors and analogies to explain topics, enhancing learning by using similaritie...

Pervasive Computing systems are characterized by possibly mobile components distributed in the environment and are devoted to collect, process and manage information in order to support users in different kind of activities. High-level correlation of information in such context can be defined, exploiting a formal model arising from the spatial disposition of information sources, as a form of co...

Community Question Answering (CQA) websites are a popular tool for internet users to fulfill diverse information needs. Posted questions can be multiple sentences long and span diverse domains. They go beyond factoid questions and can be conversational, opinion-seeking and experiential questions, that might have multiple, potentially conflicting, useful answers from different users. In this pap...

This article considers the problem of spatial representation for animat navigation systems. It is proposed that the global navigation task, or wayfinding, is best supported by multiple interacting sub-systems, each of which builds its own partial representation of relevant world knowledge. Evidence from the study of animal navigation is reviewed to demonstrate that similar principles underlie t...

Commonsense reasoning requires knowledge about the frequency with which ordinary events and activities occur: How often do people eat a sandwich, go to sleep, write a book, or get married? This paper introduces work to acquire a knowledge base pairing factoids about such events with frequency categories learned from simple textual patterns. We are releasing a collection of the resulting event f...