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arXiv · 2506.12667

Building Trustworthy AI by Addressing its 16+2 Desiderata with Goal-Directed Commonsense Reasoning

Alexis R. Tudor·Yankai Zeng·Huaduo Wang·Joaquin Arias·Gopal Gupta
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Abstract

Current advances in AI and its applicability have highlighted the need to ensure its trustworthiness for legal, ethical, and even commercial reasons. Sub-symbolic machine learning algorithms, such as the LLMs, simulate reasoning but hallucinate and their decisions cannot be explained or audited (crucial aspects for trustworthiness). On the other hand, rule-based reasoners, such as Cyc, are able to provide the chain of reasoning steps but are complex and use a large number of reasoners. We propose a middle ground using s(CASP), a goal-directed constraint-based answer set programming reasoner that employs a small number of mechanisms to emulate reliable and explainable human-style commonsense reasoning. In this paper, we explain how s(CASP) supports the 16 desiderata for trustworthy AI introduced by Doug Lenat and Gary Marcus (2023), and two additional ones: inconsistency detection and the assumption of alternative worlds. To illustrate the feasibility and synergies of s(CASP), we present a range of diverse applications, including a conversational chatbot and a virtually embodied reasoner.

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Alexis R. Tudor, Yankai Zeng, Huaduo Wang, Joaquin Arias, Gopal Gupta. 2025-10-30. Building Trustworthy AI by Addressing its 16+2 Desiderata with Goal-Directed Commonsense Reasoning. https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.12667

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