Topic 6

ICT Applications
6.8 Expert Systems

Objective: To be able to explain the components of an expert system

and their uses in different scenarios.
 Topic Success Criteria/PLC
Skill R/A/G
❏ I can explain the uses of expert systems.
Expert Systems
● An expert system is a computerised system that attempts to reproduce the decision making
process of an expert human being.
● It is designed to try and replicate the judgement of a human who has expert knowledge in a
certain field.
● By doing this they can be used to replace or assist a human expert.
● Expert systems gather data by asking the user questions about the problem. The initial set of
questions can lead to further questions; which questions are asked depends on the user’s
responses.
● The expert system reasons what questions it needs to ask, based on the knowledge it is given.
● It will use the responses from the user to rule out various possibilities that will allow it to eventually
reach a decision or diagnosis.
● Expert systems are made up of five parts:
○ User interface
○ Knowledge base
○ Rules base
○ Inference engine
○ Explanation system
Expert Systems
● The user interface is an interface that helps the user to communicate with the expert system. It
takes the user’s query and sends it to the inference engine. After that it displays the results. It is
an interface that helps find a way for the expert to ask questions and to get information out of
the system. The user interface presents a user with questions and accepts the information that
the user gives.
● Knowledge base: all of the data, facts and conditions about the expert’s particular subject. The
knowledge base is prepared by a knowledge engineer who will be a skilled programmer.
● A rules base: a set of rules and facts that must be applied to the knowledge base.
● An inference engine: uses these facts and rules to apply to the knowledge base when selecting
an answer to the user’s query. It matches the information that the user inputs at the user
interface with data held in the knowledge base to reach an appropriate response by using the
inference rules.
● An explanation system: provides reasoning about the information in the knowledge base. It
assists the user to understand the contents of the knowledge base and also the reasoning
process that produced the solution to the user’s question. It forms a conclusion.
Expert Systems
● Expert systems use these five functional parts together in order to calculate solutions for
different scenarios, such as:
○ Medical diagnosis
○ Mineral prospecting
○ Car engine fault diagnosis
○ Chess games
○ Financial planning
○ Route scheduling for delivery vehicles
○ Plant and animal identification
● Medical diagnosis:
○ A medical expert system gives decision support in the form of an accurate diagnosis for
the symptoms input. The system receives information about the patient, usually by the
patient’s doctor.
○ A major characteristic of an expert system for medical diagnosis is that the sequence of
steps used by the expert system in coming to a decision are designed to mimic the steps
taken by a human doctor.
○ A medical diagnosis is never a certainty and expert systems have the capability of
expressing their conclusions as a probability. For example, it could decide that it is only
50% sure that it has reached the correct diagnosis.
Expert Systems
● Medical diagnosis:
○ It is generally agreed that expert system software must contain a large number of facts
and rules about the disease or condition in question in order to deliver accurate answers.
○ It has been estimated that two general internal medicine textbooks and three specialty
textbooks would require two million rules.
● Mineral prospecting:
○ Mineral prospecting is when different sites are tested for the probability of minerals, such
as ore, being present at a site before mining starts.
○ The expert system can collect its data from: an expert, directly from sensors that are put in
place at the site and images taken from satellites showing composition of the area such
as hills, mountains, lakes and rivers.
○ Data will have to be entered into the system through the user interface. This will include:
the types of rocks that are in the area, the types of minerals present in the area, the type
of mineral required.
○ Using the information, the GIS builds a mathematical model which can predict if the
target mineral should be present in association with the features that have been entered.
This type of model is called a “predictive model” as it is making a prediction about the
likely occurrence of a mineral.
Expert Systems
● Car engine fault diagnosis:
○ Cars have symbols on their dashboards which light up when a sensor detects a problem
with component such as in the engine or in the brakes. This is all part of the electronic
management system.
○ When the driver takes the car to a garage it is plugged into an expert system, which will
interrogate the car’s electronic management system to discover the possible cause of the
fault. It may provide several suggestions that the mechanic should investigate.
○ The knowledge in these expert systems can be easily updated online by the vehicle
manufacturer, saving time and ensuring it is up to date.
○ It also means that the mechanics do not necessarily need all of the knowledge in the
expert system so saving money and time on advanced training courses.
● Chess games:
○ A chess player can play a game of chess against the computer, this really means that
they can play against an expert system.
○ This can help chess players train without the need for another person as there will be
many levels for the player to choose from.
○ The system will have been made by putting information from many expert chess players
into the knowledge base.
Expert Systems
● Chess games:
○ Playing against the computer means that there is no time pressure to make the next chess
move. On the other hand, a player may be able to cheat by using the undo button to
help them to try a different move.
● Financial planning:
○ Expert systems can be very useful for helping individuals and large companies with
financial planning.
○ Information about financial situations and personal circumstances is entered via a user
interface and based on each user’s answers, the expert system can suggest a financial
plan and give advice on how best they can organise their investments, manager their
debts or pay less taxes.
● Route scheduling for delivery vehicles:
○ This type of expert system would calculate the most efficient route for a delivery vehicle,
taking into consideration the areas for delivery. The user interface would need to ask for:
the amount of individual deliveries, the distance between each delivery drop off point,
details of the delivery vehicle’s type and speed, the amount of time available altogether,
layout of the area such as if it is hilly, so that if the system is the type that can also find the
most economical route by calculating fuel economy, it can produce the choice of
options between fastest route and most economical route.
Expert Systems
● Plant and animal identification:
○ These expert systems can be used by individuals, scientists and farmers to identify plants
and animals.
○ They could help them identify harmful insects and weeds to help prevent crop failures.
○ If there is a plant or animal that isn’t recognised, an expert system will ask the user, in the
case of an animal, how many legs it has, ow long its legs are, does it eat meat or
vegetation, its approximate size and colour etc.