Expert Systems – Introduction

 Expert Systems are computer programs that exhibit

intelligent behavior.
 They are concerned with the concepts and methods of
symbolic inference, or reasoning, by a computer, and how
the knowledge used to make those inferences will be
represented.
 Achieving expert-level competence in solving problems in
task areas by bringing to bear a body of knowledge about
specific tasks is called knowledge-based or expert system.
 The term expert system is reserved for programs whose
knowledge base contains the knowledge used by human
experts.

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Introduction

 Expert systems and knowledge-based systems

are used synonymously.
 The area of human intellectual endeavor to be
captured in an expert system is called the task
domain.
 Task refers to some goal-oriented, problem-solving
activity.
 Domain refers to the area within which the task is
being performed. Typical tasks are diagnosis,
planning, scheduling, configuration and design.

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Introduction

 Building an expert system is known as knowledge

engineering and its practitioners are called knowledge
engineers.
 The knowledge engineer must make sure that the
computer has all the knowledge needed to solve a
problem.
 The knowledge engineer must choose one or more
forms in which to represent the required knowledge as
symbol patterns in the memory of the computer -- that
is, he (or she) must choose a knowledge
representation.
 He must also ensure that the computer can use the
knowledge efficiently by selecting from a handful of
reasoning methods 3
 Building Blocks of Expert Systems
Every expert system consists of two principal parts: the
knowledge base; and the reasoning, or inference, engine.
The knowledge base of expert systems contains both factual
and heuristic knowledge.
Factual knowledge is that knowledge of the task domain that is
widely shared, typically found in textbooks or journals, and
commonly agreed upon by those knowledgeable in the
particular field.
Heuristic knowledge is the less rigorous, more experiential,
more judgmental knowledge of performance.
In contrast to factual knowledge, heuristic knowledge is rarely
discussed, and is largely individualistic. It is the knowledge of
good practice, good judgment, and plausible reasoning in the
field. It is the knowledge that underlies the "art of good
guessing."
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 Building Blocks of Expert Systems
 Knowledge representation formalizes and organizes the
knowledge. One widely used representation is the production
rule, or simply rule. A rule consists of an IF part and a THEN
part (also called a condition and an action).
 The IF part lists a set of conditions in some logical
combination.
 The piece of knowledge represented by the production rule is
relevant to the line of reasoning being developed if the IF
part of the rule is satisfied; consequently, the THEN part can
be concluded, or its problem-solving action taken.
 Expert systems whose knowledge is represented in rule form
are called rule-based systems.

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 Building Blocks of Expert Systems
 Another widely used representation, called the unit (also
known as frame, schema, or list structure) is based upon a
more passive view of knowledge.
 The unit is an assemblage of associated symbolic knowledge
about an entity to be represented. Typically, a unit consists of
a list of properties of the entity and associated values for
those properties.
 Since every task domain consists of many entities that stand
in various relations, the properties can also be used to specify
relations, and the values of these properties are the names of
other units that are linked according to the relations.
 One unit can also represent knowledge that is a "special case"
of another unit, or some units can be "parts of" another unit.
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 Building Blocks of Expert Systems
 The problem-solving model, or paradigm, organizes and
controls the steps taken to solve the problem.
 One common but powerful paradigm involves chaining of
IF-THEN rules to form a line of reasoning. If the chaining
starts from a set of conditions and moves toward some
conclusion, the method is called forward chaining.
 If the conclusion is known (for example, a goal to be
achieved) but the path to that conclusion is not known, then
reasoning backwards is called for, and the method is
backward chaining.
 These problem-solving methods are built into program
modules called inference engines or inference procedures
that manipulate and use knowledge in the knowledge base
to form a line of reasoning.
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Building Blocks of Expert Systems
 The knowledge base an expert uses is what he
learned at school, from colleagues, and from years
of experience. Presumably the more experience he
has, the larger his store of knowledge.
 Knowledge allows him to interpret the information
in his databases to advantage in diagnosis, design,
and analysis.
 Though an expert system consists primarily of a
knowledge base and an inference engine, a couple
of other features are worth mentioning: reasoning
with uncertainty, and explanation of the line of
reasoning.
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 Building Blocks of Expert Systems
Knowledge is almost always incomplete and uncertain. Thus a rule may
have associated with it a confidence factor or a weight.
The set of methods for using uncertain knowledge in combination with
uncertain data in reasoning is called reasoning with uncertainty.
A subclass of methods for reasoning with uncertainty is called "fuzzy
logic," and the systems are known as "fuzzy systems.”

Because an expert system uses uncertain or heuristic knowledge (as

humans do) its credibility is often in question (as with humans). When an
answer to a problem is questionable, we tend to want to know the
rationale.
If the rationale seems plausible, we tend to believe the answer. So it is
with expert systems.
Most expert systems have the ability to answer questions of the form:
"Why is the answer X?" Explanations can be generated by tracing the
line of reasoning used by the inference engine.
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 Building Blocks of Expert Systems
 The most important ingredient in any expert system is
knowledge. The power of expert systems resides in the
specific, high-quality knowledge they contain about task
domains.
 Researchers will continue to explore and add to the current
repertoire of knowledge representation and reasoning
methods. But in knowledge resides the power.
 Because of the importance of knowledge in expert systems and
because the current knowledge acquisition method is slow and
tedious, much of the future of expert systems depends on
breaking the knowledge acquisition bottleneck and in codifying
and representing a large knowledge infrastructure.

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User
Expertise

Knowledge Base

Facts / Observations

Knowledge / Rules
User Interface

Inference Engine
Expertise
Developer

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 Components of Expert Systems

knowledge base
• contains essential information about the problem domain
• often represented as facts and rules
inference engine
• mechanism to derive new knowledge from the knowledge base and the
information provided by the user
• often based on the use of rules
user interface
• interaction with end users
• development and maintenance of the knowledge base

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Concepts & Characteristics of Expert Systems

knowledge acquisition
• transfer of knowledge from humans to computers
• sometimes knowledge can be acquired directly from the environment
– machine learning, neural networks
knowledge representation
• suitable for storing and processing knowledge in computers
inference
• mechanism that allows the generation of new conclusions from existing
knowledge in a computer
explanation
• illustrates to the user how and why a particular solution was generated

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 Rules and Humans

 Rules can be used to formulate a theory of human information

processing (Newell & Simon)
• rules are stored in long-term memory
• temporary knowledge is kept in short-term memory
• (external) sensory input triggers the activation of rules
• activated rules may trigger further activation (internal input; “thinking”)
• a cognitive processor combines evidence from currently active rules
this model is the basis for the design of many rule-based systems
(production systems)

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Keys to Expert Systems Success
 convincing ideas
• rules, cognitive models
 practical applications
• medicine, computer technology, …
 separation of knowledge and inference
• expert system shell
– allows the re-use of the “machinery” for different domains
 concentration on domain knowledge
• general reasoning is too complicated

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When not to use an Expert System

 Expert systems are not suitable for all types of domains

and tasks
They are not useful or preferable, when …
 efficient conventional algorithms are known
 the main challenge is computation, not knowledge
 knowledge cannot be captured efficiently or used effectively
 users are reluctant to apply an expert system, e.g. due to criticality of
task, high risk or high security demands

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 Expert Systems Elements

 knowledge base
 inference engine
 working memory
 agenda
 explanation facility
 knowledge acquisition facility
 user interface

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 Architecture of Expert Systems
Knowledge-Base / Rule-Base
store expert knowledge as condition-action-rules
(aka: if-then- or premise-consequence-rules)
Working Memory
stores initial facts and generated facts derived by
inference engine; maybe with additional parameters
like the “degree of trust” into the truth of a fact 
certainty factor

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Architecture of Expert Systems
Inference Engine
• matches condition-part of rules against facts stored in Working
Memory (pattern matching);
• rules with satisfied condition are active rules and are placed on the
agenda;
• among the active rules on the agenda, one is selected (see conflict
resolution, priorities of rules) as next rule for
• execution (“firing”) – consequence of rule is added as new fact(s)
to Working Memory

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 Architecture of Expert Systems

Inference Engine + additional components might be necessary for other

functions, like
• calculation of certainty values,
• determining priorities of rules,
• conflict resolution mechanisms,
• a truth maintenance system (TMS) if reasoning with defaults and
beliefs is requested

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 Expert Systems – Example Rules

IF … THEN Rules
Rule: Red_Light
IF the light is red (antecedent)
THENstop (consequent)
Rule: Green_Light
IF the light is green
THENgo
Production Rules
the light is red ==> stop (left-hand side - antecedent)
(right-hand side - consequent)
the light is green ==> go
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