The hedgehog and the fox An argumentation-based decision support system

M. Morge (1) , P. Mancarella (1)

1 DI - Dipartimento di Informatica [Pisa]

Nous présentons dans cet article un Système d'Aide à la Décision (SDA). À cette intention, nous proposons un cadre d'argumentation pour le raisonnement pratique. Celui-ci s'appuie sur un langage logique qui sert de stucture de données concrète afin de représenter les connaisances, les buts et les décisions possibles. Différentes priorités y sont associées afin de de représenter la fiabilité des connaisances, les préférences de l'utilisateur, et l'utilité espérée des alternatives. Ces structures de données constitue l'épine dorsale des arguments. De part la nature abductive du raisonnement pratique, les arguments sont construits à partir des conclusions. De plus, nous les défi- nissons comme des structures arborescentes. De cette manière, notre SDA suggère à l'utilisateur les meilleures solutions et propose une explication interactive et compréhensible de ce choix. We present here a Decision Support System (DSS). For this purpose, we propose an Argumentation Framework for practical reasoning. A logic language is used as a concrete data structure for holding the statements like knowledge, goals, and actions. Different priorities are attached to these items corresponding to the reliability of the knowledge, the preferences between goals, and the expected utilities of alternatives. These concrete data structures consist of information providing the backbone of arguments. Due to the abductive nature of practical reasoning, we build arguments by reasoning backwards. Moreover, arguments are defined as tree-like structures. In this way, our DSS suggests some solutions and provides an interactive and intelligible explanation of the choices. Decision making is the cognitive process leading to the selection of a course of action among alternatives based on estimates of the values of those alternatives. Indeed, when a human identifies her needs and specifies them with high-level and abstract terms, there should be a way to select an existing solution. Decision Support Systems (DSS) are computer-based systems that support decision making activities including expert systems and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). In this paper, we propose a DSS which suggests some solutions and provides an interactive and intelligible explanation of the choices. In this paper, we present our Decision Support System (DSS). This computer system is built upon an Argumentation Framework (AF) for decision making. For this purpose, we consider practical reasoning as the vehicle of decision making, which is a knowledge-based, goal-oriented, and action-related reasoning. A logic language is used as a concrete data structure for holding the statements like knowledge, goals, and actions. Different priorities are attached to these items corresponding to the reliability of the knowledge, the preferences between goals, and the expected utilities of alternatives. These concrete data structures consist of information providing the backbone of arguments. Due to the abductive nature of practical reasoning, arguments are built by reasoning backwards. Moreover, arguments are defined as tree-like structures. In this way, our DSS

Mots clés: Intelligence artificielle; Raisonnement pratique; Argumentation; Artificial Intelligence; Practical reasoning

Domaines: Complexité [cs.CC]; Recherche opérationnelle [math.OC]

M. Morge, P. Mancarella. The hedgehog and the fox An argumentation-based decision support system. 2007. ⟨hal-00193405⟩