expert system (redirected from Expert systems)

expert system, a computer system or program that uses artificial intelligence techniques to solve problems that ordinarily require a knowledgeable human. The method used to construct such systems, knowledge engineering, extracts a set of rules and data from an expert or experts through extensive questioning. This material is then organized in a format suitable for representation in a computer and a set of tools for inquiry, manipulation, and response is applied. While such systems do not often replace the human experts, they can serve as useful adjuncts or assistants. Among some of the successful expert systems developed are INTERNIST, a medical diagnosis tool that contains nearly 100,000 relationships between symptoms and diseases, and PROSPECTOR, an aid to geologists in interpreting mineral data.

Bibliography

See A. Bonnet, Expert Systems (1988).

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expert system

Computer-based system designed to respond like a human expert in a given field. Expert systems are built on knowledge gathered from human experts, analogous to a database but containing rules that may be applied to solving a specific problem. An interface allows the user to specify symptoms and to clarify a problem by responding to questions posed by the system. Software tools exist to help designers build a special-purpose expert system with minimal effort. An outgrowth of work in artificial intelligence, expert systems show promise for an ever-widening range of applications. There are now widely used expert systems in the fields of medicine, personnel screening, and education.

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An AI application that uses a knowledge base of human expertise for problem solving. Its success is based on the quality of the data and rules obtained from the human expert. In practice, expert systems perform both below and above that of a human.

It derives its answers by running the knowledge base through an inference engine, which is software that interacts with the user and processes the results from the rules and data in the knowledge base.

Examples of uses are medical diagnosis, equipment repair, investment analysis, financial, estate and insurance planning, vehicle routing, contract bidding, production control and training. See EPSS.

Expert System

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(artificial intelligence)

expert system - A computer program that contains a knowledge base and a set of algorithms or rules that infer new facts from knowledge and from incoming data. An expert system is an artificial intelligence application that uses a knowledge base of human expertise to aid in solving problems. The degree of problem solving is based on the quality of the data and rules obtained from the human expert. Expert systems are designed to perform at a human expert level. In practice, they will perform both well below and well above that of an individual expert. The expert system derives its answers by running the knowledge base through an inference engine, a software program that interacts with the user and processes the results from the rules and data in the knowledge base. Expert systems are used in applications such as medical diagnosis, equipment repair, investment analysis, financial, estate and insurance planning, route scheduling for delivery vehicles, contract bidding, counseling for self-service customers, production control and training.