ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE AND

EXPERT SYSTEMS

1
Introduction
• A system that integrates knowledge from experts is
called a knowledge-based decision support system
(KBDSS) or intelligent decision support system
(IDSS).
• Some decisions need judgmental knowledge that resides
in human experts.
• The KBDSS can enhance decisions by supplying tools
and enhance computerized DSS.
• The foundation of building such systems is the techniques
and tools that have been developed in the area of artificial
intelligence (AI).

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• Artificial intelligence (AI) definitions
– Artificial intelligence (AI)
The subfield of computer science concerned with
studying thoughts processes of humans and
representing those processes via machines.
How to make computers do things that, at the moment,
people are better
AI’s goal is to mimic human intelligence
– Turing test
A test designed to measure the “intelligence” of a
computer

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• Characteristics of artificial intelligence
1. Symbolic processing (AI deals primarily with
symbolic, nonalgorithmic methods of problem solving)
• Numeric versus symbolic: symbolic processing is the core of
AI
• Algorithmic versus heuristic: human processes tend to be
nonalgorithmic (relies on rules learned from experience)
2. Heuristics
intuitive knowledge learned from experience.
By using heuristics, we do not have to rethink
completely what to do every time we encounter a
similar problem.
AI methods use heuristics to reduce the complexity of
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• Characteristics of artificial intelligence
3. Inferencing
• Reasoning capabilities that can build higher-level
knowledge from existing heuristics
• This reasoning consists of inferencing from facts
and rules, using heuristics approaches.
4. Machine learning
• Learning capabilities that allow systems to adjust
their behavior and react to changes in the outside
environment (similar to human)

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 Basic Concepts
of Expert Systems (ES)
• ES are computer-based information systems that use
expert knowledge to attain high level decision performance
in a narrow problem domain.
• The basic concepts of ES include:
– How to determine who experts are
– How expertise can be transferred from a person to a
computer
– How the system works

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• Expert
A person who has the special knowledge, judgment,
experience, and methods to give advice and solve
problems, along with the ability to apply these talents.

• Decision performance and the level of knowledge a

person has are typically criterion used to determine
whether a person is an expert.

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• Expertise
The extensive, task-specific knowledge that experts
possess.
• The level of expertise determines the performance of
a decision.
• Training, reading and experience in practice achieve
expertise.

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Features of ES

– Expertise: An EX must possess expertise that enables

it to make expert-level decision
– Symbolic reasoning: knowledge must be represented
symbolically
– Deep knowledge: concerns the level of expertise in a
knowledge base.
– Self-knowledge: must have a strong learning
capabilities to update their knowledge constantly (from
success, failure, and other knowledge resources).

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• Why we need ES
1. Since experts may retire or leave, ES are
an excellent tool for preserving
professional knowledge crucial to a
company's competitiveness
2. ES is an excellent tool for documenting
professional knowledge for examination
or improvement
3. ES is a good tool for training new
employees and disseminating knowledge
in an organization
4. ES allow knowledge to be transferred
more easily at a lower cost
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Applications of ES

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• Classical successful ES
– DENDRAL: for molecular structure identification
– MYCIN: for medical diagnosis
– XCON: for configuration of the VAX computer
• Rule-based system
A system in which knowledge is represented
completely in terms of rules (e.g., a system
based on production rules)

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• Newer applications of ES
– Credit analysis systems : used in banks for risk
management assessment
– Pension fund advisors : help employees to plan their
retirement through their analysis that calculates their
pension benefits under different scenarios
– Automated help desks: enables small business to
deal with customer requests more efficiently
– Homeland security systems:
– Market surveillance ‫مراقبة‬systems
– Business process reengineering systems

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Applications of ES

• Areas for ES applications

– Finance
– Data processing
– Marketing
– Human resources
– Manufacturing
– Homeland security
– Business process automation
– Health care management
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 Structure of ES
• ES environments:
1. Development environments
Parts of expert systems that are used by builders to
build the components and put knowledge into the
knowledge base.
It includes the knowledge base, the inference engine,
knowledge acquisition, and improving reasoning
capability.
The knowledge engineer and the expert are
considered part of these environments

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2. Consultation environment
The part of an expert system that is used by a non-
expert to obtain expert knowledge and advice.
It includes the workplace (backboard), inference
engine, explanation facility, recommended action,
and user interface

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• Three major components in ES are:
– Knowledge base
– Inference engine
– User interface
• ES may also contain:
– Knowledge acquisition subsystem
– Blackboard (workplace)
– Explanation subsystem (justifier)
– Knowledge refining system

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• Knowledge acquisition (KA)
The extraction and formulation of knowledge derived
from various sources, especially from human experts
other sources: multimedia documents, textbooks,
DB, research reports, and the Web.
• Knowledge base
A collection of facts, rules, and procedures organized
into schemas. The assembly of all the relevant
information and knowledge about a specific field of
interest

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• Inference engine
The part of an expert system (program) that provides a
methodology for reasoning about information in the KB
and on the blackboard for formulating conclusions.
• User interfaces
The parts of computer systems that interact with users,
accepting commands from the computer keyboard and
displaying the results generated by other parts of the
systems

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• Blackboard (workplace)
An area of working memory set aside for the
description of a current problem and for recording
intermediate results in an expert system
• Explanation subsystem (justifier)
The component of an expert system that can explain
the system’s reasoning and justify its conclusions

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• Knowledge-refining system
A system that has the ability to analyze its
own performance, learn, and improve itself
for future consultations

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