In this paper we focus on the application of description logics to
natural language processing. In cooperation with the PRACMA Project we
have been developing a suitably extended knowledge representation
system, called MOTEL.
In our approach to agent modelling and natural language processing we
use an extension of the well-known description language ALC. Our system
MOTEL serves on one hand as a knowledge base for the natural language
front-end, and on the other hand, it provides powerful logical
representation and reasoning components. As our approach is logic based
we hope that this enhances the overall capabilities of the natural
language processing system.
We present a brief overview of MOTEL and the different extensions we are
working on, i.e. modal extension of description logics, a
cardinality-based approach to quantitative information, reason
maintenance, probablistic, non-monotonic, and abductive reasoning.