Knowledge in Individuals Prof. Andrew Basden. [email protected] with thanks to Prof. Elaine Ferneley [email protected].

Knowledge in Individuals Knowledge in Individuals

Prof. Andrew Basden. Prof. Andrew [email protected]@basden.demon.co.uk

with thanks towith thanks to

Prof. Prof. Elaine Ferneley Elaine Ferneley

Prof Elaine Ferneley 2

From tacit to articulate knowledge From tacit to articulate knowledge

““We know more than we can tell.” We know more than we can tell.”

Michael Polanyi, 1966Michael Polanyi, 1966

TacitArticulated

High Low

MANUALHow to

play soccer

Codifiability

Prof Elaine Ferneley 33

Knowledge is experience, Knowledge is experience, everything else is just everything else is just

information.information.-Albert Einstein-Albert Einstein

““We know more than we can tell.”We know more than we can tell.”

Prof Elaine Ferneley

Explicit KnowledgeExplicit Knowledge

Mend a

broken legCalculate

tax

Make a cake

Raise a

n

invoiceBuild anengine

Service a boiler

Formal and systematic: easily communicated &

shared in product specifications, scientific formula or as computer programs;

Management of explicit knowledge: management of

processes and information

Are the activities to the right information or knowledge dependent ?

Prof Elaine Ferneley

Tacit Knowledge ExamplesTacit Knowledge Examples

Work in

team

Get 100%in an

assignmentCo-ordinate colours

Ride a

bikeDesign apresentation

Arrange furniture

Highly personal: hard to formalise; difficult (but not

impossible)to articulate; often in the form of know

how.

Management of tacit knowledge is the management of people: how do you extract and

disseminate tacit knowledge.

Prof Elaine Ferneley

Knowledge As An Attribute of ExpertiseKnowledge As An Attribute of Expertise

An expert in a specialized area masters the requisite knowledge

The unique performance of a knowledgeable expert is clearly noticeable in decision-making quality

Experts are more selective in the information they acquire: they know what is important

Experts are beneficiaries of the knowledge that comes from experience

Prof Elaine Ferneley

Expertise, Experience & UnderstandingExpertise, Experience & Understanding

Experience – rules of thumb: What e.g. gardener might have

Understanding – general knowledge:What a biology graduate might have

Expertise – E + U in harmonyWhat an expert has

Prof Elaine Ferneley

Definitions: Definitions: DataData, , Information, Knowledge, Information, Knowledge,

UnderstandingUnderstanding and Wisdom and Wisdom

The appreciation of why The difference between learning and memorising

If you understand you can take existing knowledge and creating new knowledge, build upon currently held information and knowledge and develop new information and knowledge

In computing terms AI systems possess understanding in the sense that they are able to infer new information and knowledge from previously stored information and knowledge

Prof Elaine Ferneley

Definitions: Definitions: DataData, , Information, Knowledge, Information, Knowledge,

Understanding and Understanding and WisdomWisdom

Evaluated understanding Essence of philosophical probing

Critically questions, particularly from a human perspective of morals and ethics

discerning what is right or wrong, good or bad A mix of experience, values, contextual

information, insight In computing terms may be unachievable

– can a computer have a soul??

Prof Elaine Ferneley

Illustrations of the Different Types of Illustrations of the Different Types of Knowledge Knowledge

Know ‘that’

Know ‘how’

Prof Elaine Ferneley

ReasoningReasoningandand

ThinkingThinkingandand

Generating KnowledgeGenerating Knowledge

Prof Elaine Ferneley

Expert’s Reasoning MethodsExpert’s Reasoning Methods

Reasoning by analogy: relating one concept to another Formal reasoning: using deductive or inductive methods (see next slide) Case-based reasoning: reasoning from relevant past cases

Prof Elaine Ferneley

Deductive and inductive reasoningDeductive and inductive reasoning

Deductive reasoning: exact reasoning. It deals with exact facts and exact facts and exact conclusionsexact conclusions

Inductive reasoning: reasoning from a set of facts or individual cases to a general general conclusionconclusion

Prof Elaine Ferneley

LearningLearning

Learning by experience: a function of time and talent

Learning by example: more efficient than learning by experience

Learning by sharing, education.

Learning by discovery: explore a problem area.