Human inference (i.e. how humans draw conclusions) is traditionally studied within the field of cognitive psychology; artificial intelligence researchers develop automated inference systems to emulate human inference. A constituent to the means through which semantic web technology supports ‘artificial intelligence’ functionality is by way of Semantic Inferencing.
Semantic Inferencing makes use of available structured data, formatted through the use of ontologies, to support the means through which assumed conclusions can be presented with a probabilistic degree of certainty.
The more data-points made available in connection to a specified form of query, the greater systems are able to improve the probability of query responses being correct. Semantic inferencing is an important constituent to the broader eco-system of ‘semantic web tools’.