Evolving knowledge through negotiation

TL;DR

This paper discusses the challenges of semantic ambiguity in web information exchange, highlighting the limitations of model theory and proposing social science insights for improving communication accuracy.

Contribution

It introduces a novel perspective by integrating social science approaches to address semantic ambiguity in semantic web information exchange.

Findings

Model theory preserves ambiguity but hampers precise communication.

Interactive feedback and source context preservation can improve meaning accuracy.

Social science insights offer potential solutions for semantic clarification.

Abstract

Semantic web information is at the extremities of long pipelines held by human beings. They are at the origin of information and they will consume it either explicitly because the information will be delivered to them in a readable way, or implicitly because the computer processes consuming this information will affect them. Computers are particularly capable of dealing with information the way it is provided to them. However, people may assign to the information they provide a narrower meaning than semantic technologies may consider. This is typically what happens when people do not think their assertions as ambiguous. Model theory, used to provide semantics to the information on the semantic web, is particularly apt at preserving ambiguity and delivering it to the other side of the pipeline. Indeed, it preserves as much interpretations as possible. This quality for reasoning efficiency, becomes a deficiency for accurate communication and meaning preservation. Overcoming it may require either interactive feedback or preservation of the source context. Work from social science and humanities may help solving this particular problem.