Relation extraction using co-training with distant supervision

A computer program product, comprising a non-transitory tangible storage device having program code embodied therewith, the program code executable by a processor of a computer to perform a method, the method comprising:

• receiving, by the processor, a natural language text comprising sentences;
• splitting, by the processor, the sentences into at least a first portion and a second portion;
• identifying, by the processor, concepts in the sentences of the first portion;
• determining, by the processor, for a first sentence corresponding to at least one sentence in the first portion having a concept pair, a likelihood that the first sentence exhibits an existing relation between concepts of the concept pair, wherein the determined likelihood represents a first confidence value;
• and
• determining, by the processor, for a second sentence corresponding to at least one sentence in the second portion having the concept pair, a likelihood that a word or phrase connecting concepts of the concept pair exhibits the existing relation, wherein the determined likelihood represents a second confidence value and is based, in part, on the first confidence value.

A computer system, comprising:

• one or more computer devices each having one or more processors and one or more tangible storage devices;
• and
• a program embodied on at least one of the one or more storage devices, the program having a plurality of program instructions for execution by the one or more processors, the program instructions comprising instructions for:
• receiving a natural language text comprising sentences;
• splitting the sentences into at least a first portion and a second portion;
• identifying concepts in the sentences of the first portion;
• determining, for a first sentence corresponding to at least one sentence in the first portion having a concept pair, a likelihood that the first sentence exhibits an existing relation between concepts of the concept pair, wherein the determined likelihood represents a first confidence value;
• and
• determining, for a second sentence corresponding to at least one sentence in the second portion having the concept pair, a likelihood that a word or phrase connecting concepts of the concept pair exhibits the existing relation, wherein the determined likelihood represents a second confidence value and is based, in part, on the first confidence value.