Semantics

• Semantics is the meaning of a text. This is really really hard.
• A typical approximation for a sentence is to use the symbols as primitives and make a case frame. This is Fillmore's Case Frame theory. It fits in perfectly with the Frame Knowledge Representation mechanism.
• (hit (actor John) (object Bob) (inst bat))
• Note that base semantics here are just symbols. Chinese room problem, and symbol grounding problem.
• Ontologies can help here, so that the symbols are related.
• This is an open problem.
• It seems the only way to learn the meaning of symbols (words) is to be an embodied agent functioning in an environment.
• Aside from that all we have is approximations.