Dr. Yasir Mahmood

Member -

Data Science / Heinz Nixdorf Institute
Member - PostDoc
Knowledge representation and reasoning, Explainable AI
Transregional Collaborative Research Centre 318
Member - Associated Collegiate
Associated Postfoctoral Researcher
E-Mail:
yasir.mahmood@uni-paderborn.de
Web:
Homepage (Extern)
Office Address:
Fürstenallee 11
33102 Paderborn
Room:
F1.307

Bridging AI and formal logic: creating systems that reason rigorously, manage contradictions, and explain their decisions

About Yasir Mahmood

I am a Postdoctoral Researcher specializing in Knowledge Representation and Reasoning, with a particular emphasis on the Theory of Argumentation, Inconsistency-Tolerant Reasoning, and Explainable AI. My work explores the intersection of formal logic and artificial intelligence, aiming to develop systems that can reason effectively under uncertainty, handle conflicting information gracefully, and provide transparent explanations for their decisions. I am passionate about advancing the theoretical foundations of AI to create robust, reliable, and interpretable intelligent systems.

Research

Research Interests

My research is mainly in the following areas:

  • Theoretical Computer Science
  • Mathematical Logic
  • Knowledge Representation and Reasoning
  • Explainable AI

Feel free to write me if you are interested in collaborating (or writing a thesis) on any of the following topics.

  • Formal Argumentation: Theory and Applications
  • Abductive Reasoning
  • Contrastive Explanations
  • (Parameterized) Complexity Theory
  • Reasoning with Inconsistencies 
  • Description Logics
  • Database Repairs and Consistent Query Answering

Publications

Latest Publications

Computing Repairs Under Functional and Inclusion Dependencies via Argumentation

Y. Mahmood, J. Virtema, T. Barlag, A.-C. Ngonga Ngomo, in: Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer Nature Switzerland, Cham, 2024.

DOI

Quantitative Claim-Centric Reasoning in Logic-Based Argumentation

M. Hecher, Y. Mahmood, A. Meier, J. Schmidt, in: Proceedings of the Thirty-ThirdInternational Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, International Joint Conferences on Artificial Intelligence Organization, 2024.

DOI

Parameterized Complexity of Weighted Team Definability

J. Kontinen, Y. Mahmood, A. Meier, H. Vollmer, Mathematical Structures in Computer Science (2024) 1–15.

DOI

Dung's Argumentation Framework: Unveiling the Expressive Power with Inconsistent Databases

Y. Mahmood, M. Hecher, A.-C. Ngonga Ngomo, ArXiv:2412.11617 (2024).

arXiv

Rejection in Abstract Argumentation: Harder Than Acceptance?

J.K. Fichte, M. Hecher, Y. Mahmood, A. Meier, in: Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence and Applications, IOS Press, 2024.

DOI

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Teaching

Teaching Areas

The following thesis topics are currently available:

  1. An implementation of a consistent query answering algorithm for databases (Master's/Bachelor's; proficiency in Java required)
  2. Finding new tractable algorithms for consistent query answering in databases (Master's; knowledge of relational databases or first-order logics desirable)
  3. Argumentation in practice (Master's/Bachelor's; willingness to apply theory to practical challenges)
  4. Complexity of Reasoning in formal logics (Master's/Bachelor's, foundational knowledge of computability and complexity)

Current Courses

  • Project Group: Contrastive Explanations for Knowledge Graphs (in English)

Additional Activities

I enjoy reviewing and have had the opportunity to review for the following conferences. 

  • Sub-reviewer:​
    • The AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence: (AAAI-21, AAAI-22, AAAI-23, AAAI-24)
    • International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence: (IJCAI-21, IJCAI-22, IJCAI-23, IJCAI-24)
    • The 28th International European Conference on Parallel and Distributed Computing (EuroPar-22)
    • International Conference of the European Association for Computer Science Logic (CSL-23)
    • The 20th International Conference on Principles of Knowledge Representation and Reasoning (KR-23)
    • The 13th International Symposium on Foundations of Information and Knowledge Systems (FoIKS-24)
    • The 17th International Conference on Logic Programming and Non-monotonic Reasoning (LPNMR-24)
  • Program Committee:
    • The 33rd International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI-24)
    • The 23rd International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems (AAMAS-24)
    • The 39th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-25)
    • The 24th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems (AAMAS-25)
    • The 34th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI-25)
    • The 6th International Conference on Logic and Argumentation (CLAR-25)
    • The 13th International Symposium on Foundations of Information and Knowledge Systems (FoIKS-26)
  • Publicity Chair:

    • The 13th International Symposium on Foundations of Information and Knowledge Systems (FoIKS-26)

       

  • Currently, I am serving on the Program Committee for IJCAI-25 & CLAR-25 and Publicity Chair for  FoIKS-26

Further, I frequently review papers for the following journals:

  • ACM Transactions on Computational Logic (ACM-TOCL)
  • Journal of Applied Sciences
  • Annals of Pure and Applied Logic
  • Knowledge Engineering Review