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Knowledge-based/Rule-based Systems in classical AI use predicate inference to create either a yes/no answer and/or a probability associated with said answer(s). The "crowd sourcing" of askbot, more resembles the behavior of Google PageRank in the sense that answers are weighted by reputation, both behaviorally and mathematically. Unlike PageRank however, the Q/A system here is not a "zero sum game". In PageRank, the universe of URLs must equal a constant, and so the weight of site links is constantly recalculated, so no one can "cheat" in the search unlike many other search engines. Askbot does not subtract karma just because others' karma increases -- it is not a curved grade, it is a respect-based grade, or an "honors" based system if you will.