Generalizing programs via subsumption

In this paper we present a class of operators for Machine Learning based on Logic Programming which represents a characterization of the subsumption relation in the following sense: The clause C 1 subsumes the clause C 2 iff C 1 can be reached from C 2 by applying these operators. We give a formalization of the closeness among clauses based on these operators and an algorithm to compute it as well as a bound for a quick estimation. We extend the operator to programs and we also get a characterization of the subsumption between programs. Finally, a weak metric is presented to compute the closeness among programs based on subsumption. Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología TIC 2000-1368-C03-0 Junta de Andalucía TIC-137