Infrastructure enabling information systems to be aware and self-aware

摘要

Methods and systems enable a symbol-based descriptive information system to acquire various forms of awareness, including self-awareness. The methods and systems include an operations specification of awareness for the system, a process for acquiring awareness, and special symbols that support the various forms of awareness. For example, a system may include at least one processor and memory storing a database that includes symbols, definitions of symbols, and processing rules. One symbol in the database may be an awareness symbol and another may be a database symbol. The system may also include memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the system to acquire awareness of at least one symbol from the database, acquire awareness of the system being aware using the awareness symbol, and acquire awareness of the system's information content and capabilities using the database symbol. The awareness and database symbols allow the system to gain the capability of self-awareness.

主权项

1. A system comprising:
at least one processor; a data store storing symbols, including normal symbols and special symbols, storing definitions of symbols, and storing processing rules, wherein each normal symbol has a respective definition that is either the normal symbol itself or at least one other normal symbol and each special symbol has a respective definition that is at least one other special symbol or at least one of the processing rules, and the special symbols include an awareness symbol; and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to execute processing rules in the definition of the awareness symbol reduced to primitives, which cause the system to perform operations including:
acquiring a first awareness of a particular symbol from the data store by reducing the respective definition of the particular symbol to primitives, the first awareness being an awareness of the particular symbol, andacquiring a second awareness by reducing the respective definition of the awareness symbol to primitives, the second awareness being an awareness that the system is aware.