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EXPERT
SYSTEMS
EXPLAINED
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TOPICS TO DISCUSS
What is it?
What are the four components of an
Expert system?
Example
Advantages
Disadvantages
What is it?
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WHAT IS IT?
Computer software that tries to act like a human
expert on a particular subject area; invented and
further developed to mimic the knowledge and
mastery of an expert in a specific field
When computers are programmed to accept a large
number of items of information and, based on rules
set in the program, make decisions, then further
decisions.
Programs that mimic the intelligence of a human
expert in a particular field of knowledge or
experience.
What are the four
components of an Expert
system?
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WHAT ARE THE FOUR
COMPONENTS OF AN
EXPERT SYSTEM?
1. Knowledge base
2. Inference engine
3. Rules base
4. User interface
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KNOWLEDGE BASE
Represents the facts and info
A collection of information structures (like
rules) derived from the human expert
Typically structured as If/Then statements
like this (Antecedent is the condition that
must be satisfied, and when it is, the rule is
triggered and is said to "fire". The consequent
is the action that is performed when the rule
fires.):
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INFERENCE ENGINE
Automated reasoning system; evaluates
current state of knowledge base and applies
relevant rules and asserts new knowledge
Main processing element of the expert
system
Chooses rules from the agenda to fire (if there
are none, the inference engine must obtain
information from the user in order to add
more rules to the agenda)
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INFERENCE ENGINE
Makes use of knowledge based to draw
conclusions for situations
Responsible for gathering the information
from the user; does so by asking questions
and applying it wherever necessary
Seeks info and relationships from the
knowledge base and to give answers,
predictions and suggestions like a human
expert would
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RULES BASE
Used by inference engine to match user's
answers to data stored in the knowledge base
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USER INTERFACE
Allows user to communicate with Expert
system
Gives user abiiity to answer questions or
challenges posed by system
Common ways of doing this are text or check
boxes and submit buttons
Example
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EXAMPLE OF USES
1. Prospecting for minerals and oils
2. Road scheduling for delivery vehicles
3. Financial and tax calculations
4. Identification; like for plants, animals and/or
chemical compounds
5. Strategy games (e.g. chess )
6. Diagnostics (finding faults; such as on a circuit
board or in a car engine)
7. Diagnosing a patient's illness or sickness
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EXAMPLES OF SYSTEMS
1. CaDet --> Used to identify cancer in early stages
2. DENDRAL --> Used to predict molecular
structure; chemical analysis
3. MYCIN --> Used to identify various bacteria
that are known to have the ability to cause acute
infections
4. PXDES --> Used to predict and degree and type
of a lung cancer
Advantages
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ADVANTAGES
1. Cheaper to use than having to hire human
experts with expensive prices
2. Makes fewer to no mistakes
3. More knowledge than a single human expert-
can hold the knowledge and info of many
experts
4. Gives more consistent answers to questions
5. Much more efficient as they take less time to
solve a problem
Disadvantages
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DISADVANTAGES
1. Cannot make judgements or opinions and
usually possess a lack of common sense
2. Can require people to undergo lots of training
to use them properly
3. Errors or mistakes in the rules base can lead to
many incorrect decisions
4. Expensive to initially set up
5. While the lack of emotional reasoning may help
in many situations, this lack may be a problem in
situations like ones that involve a medical
diagnosis