ARTIFICAL
INTELLIGENCE
AND EXPERT
SYSTEMS
1
Learning Objectives
• Understand the concept and evolution of
artificial intelligence
• Understand the importance of knowledge in
decision support
• Describe the concept and evolution of rule-
based expert systems (ES)
2
Learning Objectives
• Understand the architecture of rule-based
ES
• Explain the benefits and limitations of rule-
based systems for decision support
• Identify proper applications of ES
• Learn about tools and technologies for
developing rule-based DSS
3
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).
4
Opening Vignette
• Knowledge in association is often lost due to employee
turnover.
• Rules of business is coded in complex if-then statements
makes its change and development a slow and expensive
process.
• The need for rule-based intelligent system that can
automate certain decision-making events is necessary.
• Rule-based system is a system that allows experts to
describe their knowledge in plain English, then converts
that description into business rules, which can be
incorporated into a rule base for further inference
5
Concepts and Definitions of Artificial
Intelligence
• In some decision situations, the support of data and
models may not be sufficient. Additional support is needed,
such as that provided by rule-base expert systems (ES) to
substitute for human expertise by supplying knowledge.
• Knowledge-based systems (KBS)
Technologies that use qualitative knowledge rather than
mathematical models to provide the needed supports
• The major technology underlying these applications is
artificial intelligence
6
Concepts and Definitions of
Artificial Intelligence
• 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
7
Concepts and Definitions of
Artificial Intelligence
• Characteristics of artificial intelligence
1. Symbolic processing (AI deals primarily with symbolic,
non algorithmic methods of problem solving)
• Numeric versus symbolic: symbolic processing is the core of AI
• Algorithmic versus heuristic: human processes tend to be non
algorithmic (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
problem solving
8
Concepts and Definitions of
Artificial Intelligence
• 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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The Artificial Intelligence Field
• Evolution of artificial intelligence
1. Naïve solutions stage (primitive solutions to problems to
outperform human )
2. General methods stage (developing more effective
problem solving methods)
3. Domain knowledge stage (develop real-world
applications)
• Expert system or a knowledge-based system
4. Multiple integration stage (need to integrate multiple
techniques and solve problems in multiple domains )
5. Embedded applications stage (embed various intelligent
components in popular applications)
10
The Artificial Intelligence Field
11
12
The Artificial Intelligence Field
• Applications of artificial intelligence
– AI is a collection of concepts and ideas that are related
to the development of an intelligent system
– Expert system (ES)
A computer system that applies reasoning
methodologies to knowledge in a specific domain to
render advice or recommendations, much like a human
expert.
A computer system that achieves a high level of
performance in task areas that, for human beings,
require years of special education and training
13
The Artificial Intelligence Field
• Applications of artificial intelligence
– Natural language processing (NLP)
Using a natural language processor to interface
(conversational type interface) with a computer-based
system
– Two subfields of NLP
• Natural language understanding (computers
understand human)
• Natural language generation (computers talks like
human)
– Speech (voice) understanding
Translation of the human voice into individual words
and sentences understandable by a computer
14
The Artificial Intelligence Field
• Applications of artificial intelligence
– Robotics and sensory systems
– Sensory system
such as vision systems, tactical systems and signal
processing systems.
– Robots
Machines that have the capability of performing
manual functions without human intervention
– An “intelligent” robot has some kind of sensory
apparatus, such as a camera, that collects information
about the robot’s operation and its environment so as
to interpret and respond to the change rather than just
follow instructions 15
The Artificial Intelligence Field
• Computer vision and scene recognition
– Visual recognition
The addition of some form of computer intelligence and
decision-making to digitized visual information, received
from a machine sensor such as a camera
– The basic objective of computer vision is to interpret
scenarios rather than generate pictures
16
The Artificial Intelligence Field
• Intelligent computer-aided instruction (ICAI)
The use of AI techniques for training or teaching with a
computer
– Intelligent tutoring system (ITS)
Self-tutoring systems that can guide learners in how
best to proceed with the learning process (bear on the
educational process)
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The Artificial Intelligence Field
• Automatic programming
– Allows computer programs to be automatically
generated when AI techniques are embedded in
compilers
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The Artificial Intelligence Field
• Neural computing
– Neural (computing) networks
An experimental computer design aimed at building
intelligent computers that operate in a manner modeled
on the functioning of the human brain. See artificial
neural networks (CANN)
19
The Artificial Intelligence Field
• Game playing
– One of the first areas that AI researchers studied
– It is a perfect area for investigating new strategies and
heuristics because the results are easy to measure
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The Artificial Intelligence Field
• Language translation
– Automated translation uses computer programs to
translate words and sentences from one language to
another without much interpretation by humans
21
The Artificial Intelligence Field
• Fuzzy logic
is a technique for processing linguistics terms.
Logically consistent ways of reasoning that can cope with
uncertain or partial information; characteristic of human
thinking and many expert systems
• Genetic algorithms
– Intelligent methods that use computers to simulate the
process of natural evolution to find patterns from a set
of data
22
The Artificial Intelligence Field
• Intelligent agent (IA)
An expert or knowledge-based system embedded in
computer-based information systems (or their
components) to make them smarter
23
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
24
Basic Concepts of Expert Systems
(ES)
• 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.
25
Basic Concepts of Expert Systems
(ES)
• 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.
26
Basic Concepts of Expert Systems
(ES)
• 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).
27
Basic Concepts
of Expert Systems (ES)
• 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
• 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)
29
Applications of ES
• Newer applications of ES
– Credit analysis systems : used in banks for risk
management assessment
– Pension( )راتب تقاعدfund 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
30
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
32
Structure of ES
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
33
Structure of ES
34
Structure of ES
• 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
35
Structure of ES
• 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
Q) What is the difference between the knowledge base of an
ES and the knowledge base of an organization?
36
Structure of ES
• 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
37
Structure of ES
• 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
38
Structure of ES
• Knowledge-refining system
A system that has the ability to analyze its
own performance, learn, and improve itself
for future consultations
39
How ES Work: Inference Mechanisms
• Knowledge representation and organization
– Expert knowledge must be represented in a
computer-understandable format and organized
properly in the knowledge base
– Different ways of representing human knowledge
include:
• Production rules: easy to understand and adding
new rules is easy
• Semantic networks:
• Logic statements
40
How ES Work: Inference Mechanisms
• The inference process
Inference is the process of chaining
multiple rules together based on available
data to cover numerous conditions, since
expert knowledge can not be represented
in single rule.
41
How ES Work: Inference Mechanisms
• Popular approaches for inferencing:
– Forward chaining
A data-driven search in a rule-based system
– Backward chaining
A search technique (employing IF-THEN rules)
used in production systems that begins with
the action clause of a rule and works backward
through a chain of rules in an attempt to find a
verifiable set of condition clauses
42
How ES Work: Inference Mechanisms
• Development process of ES
– Is the process for eliciting knowledge from experts and
then storing the knowledge in the knowledge base.
– A typical process for developing ES includes:
• knowledge acquisition
• Knowledge representation
• Selection of development tools
• System prototyping
• Evaluation
• Improvement
43
Problem Areas Suitable for ES
Generic categories of ES
• Interpretation • Monitoring
• Prediction • Debugging
• Diagnosis • Repair
• Design • Instruction
• Planning • Control
44
Development of ES
• The development of ES includes:
1. Defining the nature and scope of the problem
– Rule-based ES are appropriate when the
nature of the problem is qualitative, knowledge
is explicit, and experts are available to solve
the problem effectively and provide their
knowledge
45
Development of ES
• The development of ES includes:
2. Identifying proper experts
– A proper expert should have a thorough
understanding of:
• Problem-solving knowledge
• The role of ES and decision support technology
• Good communication skills
46
Development of ES
• The development of ES includes:
[Link] knowledge
– Knowledge engineer
An AI specialist responsible for the technical
side of developing an expert system. The
knowledge engineer works closely with the
domain expert to capture the expert’s
knowledge in a knowledge base
47
Development of ES
• The development of ES includes:
[Link] the building tools
– There are three different kinds of
development tools:
1) General-purpose development environment
2) Expert system shell
A computer program that facilitates relatively
easy implementation of a specific expert
system. Analogous to a DSS generator
48
Applications of ES
49
Development of ES
There are three different kinds of development
tools:
3) Tailored turn-key solutions
• Contain specific features often required for
developing applications in a particular domain
50
Development of ES
• The development of ES includes:
[Link] an ES development tool
– Consider the cost benefits
– Consider the technical functionality and
flexibility of the tool
– Consider the tool's compatibility with the
existing information infrastructure
– Consider the reliability of and support from the
vendor
51
Development of ES
• The development of ES includes:
[Link] the system
– The major concern at this stage is whether the
coding process is efficient and properly
managed to avoid errors
[Link] the system
– Two kinds of evaluation:
• Verification: no error in the code and achieves
results the same as that acquired by the expert
• Validation: solve the problem correctly
52
Benefits, Limitations, and Success
Factors of ES
• Benefits of ES
– Increased output and productivity
– Decreased decision-making time
– Increased process and product quality
– Reduced downtime
– Capture of scarce expertise
– Flexibility
– Easier equipment operation
53
Benefits, Limitations, and Success
Factors of ES
• Benefits of ES
– Elimination of the need for expensive
equipment
– Operation in hazardous environments
– Accessibility to knowledge and help desks
– Ability to work with incomplete or uncertain
information
– Provision of training
54
Benefits, Limitations, and Success
Factors of ES
• Benefits of ES
– Enhancement of problem solving and decision
making
– Improved decision-making processes
– Improved decision quality
– Ability to solve complex problems
– Knowledge transfer to remote locations
– Enhancement of other information systems
55
Benefits, Limitations, and Success
Factors of ES
• Problems with ES
– Knowledge is not always readily available
– It can be difficult to extract expertise from humans
– The approach of each expert to a situation assessment
may be different yet correct
– It is difficult to abstract good situational assessments
when under time pressure
– Users of ES have natural cognitive limits
– ES work well only within a narrow domain of
knowledge
– Most experts have no independent means of checking
whether their conclusions are reasonable
56
Benefits, Limitations, and Success
Factors of ES
• Problems with ES
– The vocabulary that experts use to express facts and
relations is often limited and not understood by others
– ES construction can be costly because of the expense
of knowledge engineers
– Lack of trust on the part of end users may be a barrier
to ES use
– Knowledge transfer is subject to a host of perceptual
and judgmental biases
– ES may not be able to arrive at conclusions in some
cases
– ES sometimes produce incorrect recommendations
57
Benefits, Limitations, and Success
Factors of ES
• Factors in disuse of ES
– Lack of system acceptance by users
– Inability to retain developers
– Problems in transitioning from development to
maintenance
– Shifts in organizational priorities
58
Benefits, Limitations, and Success
Factors of ES
• ES success factors
– Level of managerial and user involvement
– Sufficiently high level of knowledge
– Expertise available from at least one
cooperative expert
– The problem to be solved must be mostly
qualitative
– The problem must be sufficiently narrow in
scope
59
Benefits, Limitations, and Success
Factors of ES
• ES success factors
– The ES shell must be of high quality and
naturally store and manipulate the knowledge
– The user interface must be friendly for novice
users
– The problem must be important and difficult
enough to warrant development of an ES
– Knowledgeable system developers with good
people skills are needed
60
Benefits, Limitations, and Success
Factors of ES
• ES success factors
– End-user attitudes and expectations must be
considered
– Management support must be cultivated
– End-user training programs are necessary
– The organizational environment should favor
adoption of new technology
– The application must be well defined,
structured, and it should be justified by
strategic impact
61
ES on the Web
• The relationship between ES and the
Internet and intranets can be divided into
two categories:
– The Web supports ES (and other AI)
applications
– The support ES (and other AI methods) give to
the Web
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