Copyright R.

Weber

INFO 629 Concepts in Artificial Intelligence

Expert Systems
Fall 2004
Professor: Dr. Rosina Weber

Copyright R. Weber

Highlights

Concept
Methodology
Knowledge and reasoning
Knowledge representation
Forward, backward chaining
ES and AI tasks
Maintenance
Knowledge acquisition
Limited, bounded domains
Use of shells
Advantages/disadvantages of ES

Copyright R. Weber

Expert Systems

Computer systems that can perform

expert tasks.
(general, vague)
A methodology that manipulates
explicit knowledge with an inference
engine to perform AI tasks.

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the concept

knowl
edge
knowledge
knowledge
base
base
(e.g.,frames
(e.g.,frames
and
andmethods)
methods)

reason
inference
ing
inference
engine
engine
(agenda)
(agenda)

expert
expert
solution
solution

expert
expert
problem
problem

Copyright R. Weber

The complete methodology

Knowledge
Knowledge acquisition
acquisition
working
working memory
memory

knowledge
knowledge
base
base
(e.g.,frames
(e.g.,frames
and
andmethods)
methods)

general
general
knowledge
knowledge

((short-term
short-termmem/information
mem/information)) user
user
II
inference
inference
nn
engine
engine
tt
(agenda)
(agenda)
ee
rr
ff
explanation
explanation
aa
cc
ee

expert
expert
problem
problem

expert
expert
solution
solution

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Expert Systems

Knowledge
and
reasoning

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Knowledge representation formalisms

(production) rules
frames (concepts, objects,
facts)
belief networks
methods
object-oriented
semantic nets
logic

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Inference Engines
Forward chaining
Analysis, multiple outcomes

Backward chaining
Attempt to test limited number of
hypotheses

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Maintenance

Maintenance focus on knowledge

Complexity of inter-relations among
rules
Difficult to automate maintenance

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Knowledge acquisition

From several human experts

Unstructured interviews
Structured interviews
Methods learned from psychology

Automated through machine learning

methods

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Domains

Limited, bounded domains

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ES Shells

Easy prototyping to test ideas

KAPPA PC
CLIPS

Examples in KAPPA PC

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ES and AI tasks

From:
Durkin, J.
(1994).
Expert
Systems:
design and
development.
Prentice-Hall,
Inc., New
Jersey.

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advantages (i)
Permanence of knowledge - Expert systems do not forget or
retire or quit, but human experts may
Breadth - One ES can (and should) entail knowledge learned
from an unlimited number of human experts.
Reproducibility - Many copies of an expert system can be
made, but training new human experts is time-consuming and
expensive.
Timeliness - Fraud and/or errors can be prevented. Information
is available sooner for decision making
Entry barriers - Expert systems can help a firm create entry
barriers for potential competitors

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advantages (ii)
Efficiency - can increase throughput and decrease
personnel costs
Although expert systems may be expensive to build and
maintain, they are inexpensive to operate
If there is a maze of rules (e.g. tax and auditing), then the
expert system can "unravel" the maze
Development and maintenance costs can be spread over
many users
The overall cost can be quite reasonable when compared to
expensive and scarce human experts
Cost savings, e.g., wages, minimize loan loss, reduce
customer support effort

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advantages (iii)
Documentation - An expert system can provide permanent
documentation of the decision process
Increased availability: the mass production of expertise
Completeness - An expert system can review all the
transactions, a human expert can only review a sample; an ES
solution will always be complete and deterministic
Consistency - With expert systems similar transactions handled
in the same way. Humans are influenced by recency effects and
primacy effects (early information dominates the judgment).

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advantages (iv)
Differentiation - In some cases, an expert system can
differentiate a product or can be related to the focus of the firm
Reduced danger: ES can be used in any environment
Reliability: ES will keep working properly regardless of of
external conditions that may cause stress to humans
Explanation: ES can trace back their reasoning providing
justification, increasing the confidence that the correct decision
was made
Indirect advantage is that the development of an ES requires
that knowledge and processes are verified for correctness,
completeness, and consistency.

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disadvantages
Common sense - In addition to a great deal of technical
knowledge, human experts have common sense. To program
common sense in an ES, you must acquire and represent rules,
which is not feasible.
Creativity - Human experts can respond creatively to unusual
situations, expert systems cannot.
Learning - Human experts automatically adapt to changing
environments; expert systems must be explicitly updated.
Complexity and interrelations of rules grow exponentially as
more rules are added.
Sensory Experience - Human experts have available to them a
wide range of sensory experience; expert systems are currently
dependent on symbolic input.

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disadvantages (ii)
Degradation - Expert systems are not good at recognizing when
no answer exists or when the problem is outside their area of
expertise. So, ES may provide a solution that is not optimal like
one that is optimal
High knowledge engineering requirements: In many real world
domains, the amount of knowledge necessary to cover an
expert problem is abundant making ES development timeconsuming and complex
Knowledge acquisition bottleneck
Difficulty to deal with imprecision (I.e., incompleteness, ,
uncertainty, ignorance, ambiguity)

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Necessary grounds for computer

understanding

Ability to represent knowledge and

reason with it.
Perceive equivalences and analogies
between two different representations
of the same entity/situation.
Learning
and
reorganizing
new
knowledge.
From Peter Jackson (1998) Introduction to Expert systems.
Addison-Wesley third edition. Chapter 2, page 27.