Knowledge-Centric Metacognitive Learning

Abstract

Interactions are central to intelligent reasoning and learning abilities, with the interpretation of abstract knowledge guiding meaningful interaction with objects in the environment. While humans readily adapt to novel situations by leveraging abstract knowledge acquired over time, artificial intelligence systems lack principled mechanisms for incorporating abstract knowledge into learning, leading to fundamental challenges in the emergence of intelligent and adaptive behavior. To address this gap, we introduce knowledge-centric metacognitive learning based on three key principles: natural abstractions, knowledge-guided interactions through interpretation, and the composition of interactions for problem solving. Knowledge learning facilitates the acquisition of abstract knowledge and the association of interactions with knowledge, while object interactions guided by abstract knowledge enable the learning of transferable interaction concepts, abstract reasoning, and generalization. This metacognitive mechanism provides a principled approach for integrating knowledge into reinforcement learning and offers a promising pathway toward intelligent and adaptive behavior in artificial intelligence, robotics, and autonomous systems.