Inferenssi

Inferenssi is the process of deriving conclusions from premises or evidence. In logic, philosophy, and everyday reasoning, it refers to moving from known information to new statements. In cognitive and computational contexts, inference also describes the procedures that produce these conclusions.

There are several major types of inferenssi. Deduktiivinen inferenssi yields conclusions that follow with necessity from true premises and valid reasoning. Example: All mammals have a backbone; a whale is a mammal; therefore, a whale has a backbone. Induktiivinen inferenssi generalizes from specific observations and is typically probabilistic or fallible, such as inferring that all swans are white based on many observed swans. Abduktiivinen inferenssi seeks the best explanation for the available evidence, often used in hypothesis formation, such as inferring that the grass is wet because it rained or because a sprinkler system was used.

In statistics and data analysis, inferenssi includes methods for drawing conclusions about populations from samples. Bayesian inference updates beliefs in light of new data, while frequentist approaches rely on sampling distributions and confidence or credible intervals. In artificial intelligence, inference engines apply rules or probabilistic models to derive new facts, using forward or backward chaining and methods for probabilistic inference in graphical models.

In cognitive science, inference describes how people interpret sensory input and make sense of the world, influenced by prior knowledge and heuristics, but also prone to biases. The term Inferenssi ultimately derives from Latin and reflects a broad set of practices for constructing knowledge from evidence.

See also: deduction, induction, abduction, Bayesian inference, inference engine.