from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
knowledge level
<artificial intelligence> A level of description of the
{knowledge} of an {agent} that is independent of the agent's
internal {symbol-level} representation. Knowledge can be
attributed to agents by observing their actions. An agent
"knows" something if it acts as if it had the information and
is acting rationally to achieve its goals. The "actions" of
agents, including knowledge base servers and {knowledge-based
systems}, can be seen through a "tell and ask" functional
interface, where a client interacts with an agent by making
{logical assertions} (tell), and posing queries (ask).
(1994-10-19)