BITSHARE: Bitstring Semantics for Human and Artificial Reasoning

Bitstring semantics, which was recently developed in logic, is a formalism for exploring the meaning relations between different expressions. Because it operates in a thoroughly local fashion, this formalism is able to achieve a good balance between high expressivity and low mathematical/computational complexity. The overarching goal of the BITSHARE project is to explore new applications of bitstring semantics in other disciplines that are concerned with meaning and reasoning, viz., philosophy, linguistics, psychology and computer science. Our target applications include some of the most important research topics in these disciplines today, such as scalar implicatures, the semantics/pragmatics interface, collaborative knowledge extraction, and probabilistic causal models. Through these well-chosen target applications, the project will demonstrate that bitstring semantics offers a shared representation formalism for a broad, interdisciplinary community of reasoning researchers, in which the insights from different disciplines can be expressed and combined with each other.

Keywords:bitstring semantics, scalar implicature, Decision Model and Notation (DMN), causal reasoning, natural language quantification, logical geometry

Disciplines:Cognitive processes, Logic, Semantics, Pragmatics, Artificial intelligence, Psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics, Knowledge representation and reasoning, Cognitive science and intelligent systems not elsewhere classified, Knowledge representation and machine learning, Computational logic and formal languages, Mathematical linguistics, Mathematical psychology, Research methods and experimental design, Philosophy of language, Ethics of technology, Cognitive neuroscience, Analytical philosophy