Inference in First-Order Logic

• Inference in First-Order Logic is used to deduce new facts or

sentences from existing sentences. Before understanding the FOL
inference rule, let's understand some basic terminologies used in FOL.
• Substitution: Substitution is a fundamental operation performed on
terms and formulas. It occurs in all inference systems in first-order
logic. The substitution is complex in the presence of quantifiers in
FOL. If we write F[a/x], so it refers to substitute a constant "a" in place
of variable "x".
• Equality: First-Order logic does not only use predicate and terms for
making atomic sentences but also uses another way, which is equality
in FOL. For this, we can use equality symbols which specify that the
two terms refer to the same object.
• Example: Brother (John) = Smith.
As in the above example, the object referred by the Brother (John) is
similar to the object referred by Smith. The equality symbol can also be
used with negation to represent that two terms are not the same
objects.

• Example: ￢(x=y) which is equivalent to x ≠y.

 FOL inference rules for quantifier:
• As propositional logic we also have inference rules in first-order logic, so following are some basic
inference rules in FOL:
1. Universal Generalization
2. Universal Instantiation
3. Existential Instantiation
4. Existential introduction
1. Universal Generalization:
Universal generalization is a valid inference rule which states that if premise P(c) is true for any
arbitrary element c in the universe of discourse, then we can have a conclusion as ∀ x P(x).
It can be represented as: Inference in First-Order Logic.
This rule can be used if we want to show that every element has a similar property.
In this rule, x must not appear as a free variable.
Example: Let's represent, P(c): "A byte contains 8 bits", so for ∀ x P(x) "All bytes contain 8 bits.", it
will also be true.
2. Universal Instantiation:

• Universal instantiation is also called as universal elimination or UI is a

valid inference rule. It can be applied multiple times to add new
sentences.
• The new KB is logically equivalent to the previous KB.
• As per UI, we can infer any sentence obtained by substituting a ground
term for the variable.
• The UI rule state that we can infer any sentence P(c) by substituting a
ground term c (a constant within domain x) from ∀ x P(x) for any object
in the universe of discourse.
• It can be represented as:
• Example:1.

• IF "Every person like ice-cream"=> ∀x P(x) so we can infer that

• "John likes ice-cream" => P(c)

• Example: 2.

• Let's take a famous example,

• "All kings who are greedy are Evil." So let our knowledge base contains this detail as in
the form of FOL:

• ∀x king(x) ∧ greedy (x) → Evil (x),

• So from this information, we can infer any of the following statements
using Universal Instantiation:

• King(John) ∧ Greedy (John) → Evil (John),

• King(Richard) ∧ Greedy (Richard) → Evil (Richard),
• King(Father(John)) ∧ Greedy (Father(John)) → Evil (Father(John)),
3. Existential Instantiation:
• Existential instantiation is also called as Existential Elimination, which
is a valid inference rule in first-order logic.
• It can be applied only once to replace the existential sentence.
• The new KB is not logically equivalent to old KB, but it will be
satisfiable if old KB was satisfiable.
• This rule states that one can infer P(c) from the formula given in the
form of ∃x P(x) for a new constant symbol c.
• The restriction with this rule is that c used in the rule must be a new
term for which P(c ) is true.
• It can be represented as:

• Example:

• From the given sentence: ∃x Crown(x) ∧ OnHead(x, John),

• So we can infer: Crown(K) ∧ OnHead( K, John), as long as K does not

appear in the knowledge base.

• The above used K is a constant symbol, which is called Skolem

constant.
• The Existential instantiation is a special case of Skolemization process.
4. Existential introduction:
• An existential introduction is also known as an existential
generalization, which is a valid inference rule in first-order logic.
• This rule states that if there is some element c in the universe of
discourse which has a property P, then we can infer that there exists
something in the universe which has the property P.
• It can be represented as:

• Example: Let's say that,

• "Priyanka got good marks in English."
• "Therefore, someone got good marks in English."
 Inference engine:
• The inference engine is the component of the intelligent system in
artificial intelligence, which applies logical rules to the knowledge
base to infer new information from known facts. The first inference
engine was part of the expert system. Inference engine commonly
proceeds in two modes, which are:
1. Forward chaining
2. Backward chaining
Horn Clause and Definite clause:
Horn clause and definite clause are the forms of sentences, which
enables knowledge base to use a more restricted and efficient
inference algorithm. Logical inference algorithms use forward and
backward chaining approaches, which require KB in the form of the
first-order definite clause.
• Definite clause: A clause which is a disjunction of literals with exactly
one positive literal is known as a definite clause or strict horn clause.

• Horn clause: A clause which is a disjunction of literals with at most

one positive literal is known as horn clause. Hence all the definite
clauses are horn clauses.

• Example: (¬ p V ¬ q V k). It has only one positive literal k.

• It is equivalent to p ∧ q → k.
 Forward Chaining
• Forward chaining is also known as a forward deduction or forward
reasoning method when using an inference engine. Forward chaining
is a form of reasoning which start with atomic sentences in the
knowledge base and applies inference rules (Modus Ponens) in the
forward direction to extract more data until a goal is reached.

• The Forward-chaining algorithm starts from known facts, triggers all

rules whose premises are satisfied, and add their conclusion to the
known facts. This process repeats until the problem is solved.
• Properties of Forward-Chaining:
1. It is a down-up approach, as it moves from bottom to top.
2. It is a process of making a conclusion based on known facts or data,
by starting from the initial state and reaches the goal state.
3. Forward-chaining approach is also called as data-driven as we reach
to the goal using available data.
4. Forward -chaining approach is commonly used in the expert system,
such as CLIPS, business, and production rule systems.
Example:
"As per the law, it is a crime for an American to sell weapons to hostile
nations. Country A, an enemy of America, has some missiles, and all
the missiles were sold to it by Robert, who is an American citizen."

Prove that "Robert is criminal."

 Backward Chaining:
• Backward-chaining is also known as a backward deduction or backward reasoning
method when using an inference engine. A backward chaining algorithm is a form of
reasoning, which starts with the goal and works backward, chaining through rules to find
known facts that support the goal.
• Properties of backward chaining:
1. It is known as a top-down approach.
2. Backward-chaining is based on modus ponens inference rule.
3. In backward chaining, the goal is broken into sub-goal or sub-goals to prove the facts
true.
4. It is called a goal-driven approach, as a list of goals decides which rules are selected
and used.
5. Backward -chaining algorithm is used in game theory, automated theorem proving
tools, inference engines, proof assistants, and various AI applications.
6. The backward-chaining method mostly used a depth-first search strategy for proof.