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<title>Qualification problem</title>
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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Qualification problem</span></span>
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<p>In <a href="Philosophy" title="Philosophy">philosophy</a> and <a href="Artificial_intelligence" title="Artificial intelligence">AI</a> (especially, <a href="Knowledge-based_systems" title="Knowledge-based systems">knowledge-based systems</a>), the <b>qualification problem</b> is concerned with the impossibility of listing <i>all</i> the <a href="Precondition" title="Precondition">preconditions</a> required for a real-world action to have its intended effect.<sup id="cite_ref-reiter_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-reiter-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> It might be posed as <i>how to deal with the things that prevent me from achieving my intended result</i>. It is strongly connected to, and opposite the <a href="Ramification_problem" title="Ramification problem">ramification side</a> of, the <a href="Frame_problem" title="Frame problem">frame problem</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-reiter_1-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-reiter-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> John McCarthy gives the following motivating example, in which it is impossible to enumerate all the circumstances that may prevent a robot from performing its ordinary function:
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</style><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>[T]he successful use of a boat to cross a river requires, if the boat is a rowboat, that the oars and rowlocks be present and unbroken, and that they fit each other. Many other qualifications can be added, making the rules for using a rowboat almost impossible to apply, and yet anyone will still be able to think of additional requirements not yet stated.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p></blockquote>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2></div>
<ul><li><a href="Non-monotonic_logic" title="Non-monotonic logic">Non-monotonic logic</a></li>
<li><a href="Circumscription_(logic)" title="Circumscription (logic)">Circumscription</a></li></ul>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>
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<li id="cite_note-reiter-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-reiter_1-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-reiter_1-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">
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</style><cite id="CITEREFReiter2001" class="citation book cs1">Reiter, Raymond (2001). <i>Knowledge in Action: Logical Foundations for Specifying and Implementing Dynamical Systems</i>. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. pp. <span class="nowrap">20–</span>22. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>9780262527002</bdi>.</cite></span>
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<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFThielscher2001" class="citation journal cs1">Thielscher, Michael (September 2001). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS0004-3702%2801%2900131-X">"The Qualification Problem: A solution to the problem of anomalous models"</a>. <i>Artificial Intelligence</i>. <b>131</b> (<span class="nowrap">1–</span>2): <span class="nowrap">1–</span>37. <a href="Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<span class="id-lock-free" title="Freely accessible"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS0004-3702%2801%2900131-X">10.1016/S0004-3702(01)00131-X</a></span>.</cite></span>
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<li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFMcCarthy1980" class="citation journal cs1">McCarthy, John (April 1980). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://jmc.stanford.edu/articles/circumscription/circumscription.pdf">"Circumscription: A form of non-monotonic reasoning"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. <i>Artificial Intelligence</i>. <b>13</b> (<span class="nowrap">1–</span>2): <span class="nowrap">27–</span>39. <a href="Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1016%2F0004-3702%2880%2990011-9">10.1016/0004-3702(80)90011-9</a>.</cite></span>
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div>
<ul><li>John McCarthy "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/circumscription/node1.html">Introduction: The Qualification Problem</a>"</li></ul>
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