Expert systems

Definition
What are Expert systems ? Knowledge based systems , & , Part of the Artificial Intelligence field. The idea is to inject expert knowledge in to a computer system. The primary purpose is to automate DECISION MAKING Computer programs (if and then rules) that contain some subject-specific knowledge of one or more human experts Made up of a set of rules that analyze user supplied information about a specific class of problems. Systems that utilize reasoning capabilities and draw conclusions COMMON PROGRAMING LANGUAGE SUPPORT The most commonly used are 1) LISP. 2) Prolog.

Components of an Expert System (1)

Knowledge base : IT is the Nucleus of the expert system structure Stores all relevant information, data, rules, cases, and relationships used by the expert system Knowledge engineers: who translate the knowledge of real human experts into rules and strategies, create it. These rules and strategies can change depending on the prevailing problem scenario

Components of an Expert System(2)

Inference Engine:
Seeks information and relationships from the knowledge base and provides answers, predictions, and suggestions in the way a human expert would do Match the premise patterns of the rules against elements in the working memory.

Explanation facility :
part of the expert system that allows a user or decision maker to understand how the expert system arrived at certain conclusions or results

Set of Rules :
A conditional statement that links given conditions to actions or outcomes with if and then rules

ARCHITECTURE OF SIMPLE EXPERT SYSTEM

EXPERT KNOWLEDGE EXPERT KNOWLEDGE

USER

KNOWLEDGE BASE

KNOWLEDEGE BASE ACQUITION FACILITY

USER INTERFACE

INFERENCE ENGINE

EXPLANATION FACILITY

Expert systems /Rule Based systems

Rule-based or Expert systems - Knowledge bases consisting of hundreds or thousands of rules of the form: IF (condition) THEN (action). Use rules to store knowledge (rule-based). The rules are usually gathered from experts in the field being represented (expert system). IF x is A THEN y is B

 Domain expert

Main Participants in Expert Systems

Who makes the system as expert by gathering or taken all the information from the expert , group , etc.. According to the different problems (or) scenarios.

Knowledge engineer
Who makes the system as expert by injecting all the gathered information from the domain expert by implementing , developing , designed and maintained

Knowledge user
The individual or group who uses and benefits from the expert system

EXPERT SYSTEM

Domain expert

Knowledge engineer

Knowledge user

Knowledge Acquisition Facility

Knowledge acquisition facility
Provides a convenient and efficient means of capturing and storing all components of the knowledge base

KNOWLEDGE BASE

KNOWLEDGE ACQUITION FACILITY

Joe Expert

Methods used in the Expert system

The basic types are:
- 1)Decision trees : A tree is formed with the series of questions , responses where the answer is taken from the responses generated according to the scenario as end point. - 2)Forward chaining : (data-driven) - A method of reasoning that starts with the facts and works forward to the conclusions - 3)Back ward chaining: (goal-driven) A method of reasoning that starts with conclusions and works backward to the supporting facts

 4)Black board systems Case based reasoning :

cases or instances of the problem, with solution that was found in a result that took place. Rather than creating a set of rules, you just write an inference Engine

Expert Systems Development

Determining requirements

Identifying experts

Construct expert system components

Domain The area of knowledge addressed by the expert system.

Implementing results

Maintaining and reviewing system

Loan application
Loan application for a loan for $100,000 to $200,000

If If If

Month net income is greater than 4x monthly loan payment, down payment is 15% of total value of property, net income of borrower is > $25,000, and

and

and

If
If

employment is > 3 years at same company

There are no previous credits problems

Then accept the applications

Else check other credit rules

Applications of Expert Systems

DENDRAL: Used to identify the structure of chemical compounds. First used in 1965

MYCIN: Medical system for diagnosing blood disorders. First used in 1979

Applications of Expert Systems

PUFF: Medical system for diagnosis of respiratory conditions

PROSPECTOR: Used by geologists to identify sites for drilling or mining

Applications of Expert Systems

LITHIAN: Gives advice to archaeologists examining stone tools

DESIGN ADVISOR: Gives advice to designers of processor chips

 Expert system shell

Evolution of Expert Systems Software

Collection of software packages & tools to design, develop, implement, and maintain expert systems

high Ease of use

Special and 4th generation languages

Expert system shells

low

Traditional programming languages

Before 1980

1980s

1990s

Need for expert systems

1. Human expertise is very scarce. 2. Humans get tired from physical or mental workload. 3. Humans forget crucial details of a problem. 4. Humans are inconsistent in their day-to-day decisions. 5. Humans have limited working memory. 6. Humans are unable to comprehend large amounts of data quickly. 7. Humans are unable to retain large amounts of data in memory. 8. Humans are slow in recalling information stored in memory.

Expert System Limitations

Limited focus Inability to learn Maintenance problems May have high development costs Can only solve specific types of problems in a limited domain of knowledge

Advantages
Reduce employee training costs Centralize the decision making process. Create efficiencies and reduce the time needed to solve problems. Combine multiple human expert intelligences Reduce the amount of human errors. Expert-system approaches provide the added flexibility (Easy for modification) with the ability to model rules as data rather than as code

Problems with expert system

Limited domain because ,Domain experts cannot always clearly explain their logic and reasoning. Systems are not always up to date, and Dont learn Experts needed to setup and maintain system No common sense , creative responses , give in unusual circumstances by humans. Lack of flexibility and ability to adapt to changing environments

History
Edward Albert Feigenbaum is the "Father of expert systems. Early Expert Systems (1970s) DENDRAL infers molecular structure from the unknown compounds MYCIN medical diagnosing (bacterial infections of the blood)

Conclusion
They require a lot of collaboration between a knowledge engineer and a domain expert. When implemented correctly, to over come the human error expert systems remove