A Kolmogorov complexity view of analogy: From logical modeling to experimentations Meriam Bayoudh, Henri Prade, Gilles Richard Abstract Analogical reasoning is considered as one of the main mechanisms un- derlying human intelligence and creativity, allowing the paradigm shift essential to a creative process. More specific is the notion of analogical proportion like “2 is to 4 as 5 is to 10” or “read is to reader as lecture is to lecturer”: such statements can be precisely described within an algebraic framework. When the proportion holds be- tween concepts as in “engine is to car as heart is to human” or “wine is to France as beer is to England”, applying an algebraic framework is less straightforward and a new way to understand analogical proportions on the basis of Kolmogorov complex- ity theory may seem more appropriate. This viewpoint has been used to develop a classifier detecting analogies in natural language. Despite their apparent difference, it is quite clear that the two viewpoints should be strongly related. In this paper, we investigate the link between a purely abstract view of analogical proportions and a definition based on Kolmogorov complexity theory. This theory is used as a backbone to experiment a classifier of natural language analogies whose results are consistent with the abstract setting. 1 Introduction Despite its specific status, analogical reasoning can be considered as a very common reasoning process and has the ability to shortcut long classical reasoning leading to the same conclusion. It is largely accepted that analogy is the basis for creativity as it puts different paradigms into correspondence (see [1, 2]). Analogical reasoning is Meriam Bayoudh IRIT, Universit´ e Paul Sabatier, 31062 Toulouse Cedex 09, France e-mail: bayoudh@irit.fr, Henri Prade IRIT, Universit´ e Paul Sabatier, 31062 Toulouse Cedex 09, France e-mail: prade@irit.fr, Gilles Richard British Institute of Technology and E-commerce, Avicenna House 258-262 Romford Road London E7 9HZ, e-mail: grichard@bite.ac.uk