Integrating machine learning with knowledge acquisition through direct interaction with domain experts

Knowledge elicitation from experts and empirical machine learning are two distinct approaches to knowledge acquisition with differing and mutually complementary capabilities. Learning apprentices have provided environments in which a knowledge engineer may collaborate with a machine learning system allowing for a synergy between the complementary approaches. The Knowledge Factory is a knowledge acquisition environment that allows a domain expert to collaborate directly with a machine learning system without the need for assistance from a knowledge engineer. This requires a different form of environment to the learning apprentice. The paper describes techniques for supporting such interactions and their implementation in a knowledge acquisition environment called The Knowledge Factory.