Introduction to AI

AAPP002-4-2-IAI Ver 1.0

Introduction to Expert Systems

 Topic & Structure of The Lesson

• Categories of Expert Systems

• Components of Expert Systems
• Expert System shell

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 Learning Outcomes

• At the end of this topic, You should be

able to
• Introduction to Expert Systems
• Categories of Expert Systems
• Components of Expert System
• Expert System Shell

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 Key Terms You Must Be Able To
Use
• If you have mastered this topic, you should be able to use the
following terms correctly in your assignments and exams:

Expert System
Domain expert
Knowledge Engineer
Domain

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 What is Expert System

• Expert systems were the first major

economically successful product resulting from
the study of Artificial Intelligence
• An expert system is a computer program which
can do the job of a human expert
• An expert system can be defined as "a computer
program which can draw reasoned conclusions
from a body of knowledge in a restricted
domain".

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 Functions of an expert system

• An expert system represents the knowledge of one or

more domain experts.
• A simple expert system may represent the knowledge of
a single expert, but most commercial expert systems
represent the knowledge on many experts.
• The purpose of an expert system is to provide advice to
a user through a process of consultation.
• The expert system can provide this consultation through
a series of questions to the user

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 continued

• A good expert system will also be able to

explain to the user:
a) why certain questions are being asked
b) how it reached its conclusion

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 Quick Review Question

• Identify the domain of expertise for which each of the following

human experts is well known

Jamie Oliver
Gary Lineker
Patrick Moore
Stephen Hawking
Your teacher!

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 Continued

2) Identify a domain expert for the following domains of

expertise:
• Gardening
• interior design
• weather forecasting
• popular music.

3) Identify a domain of expertise of your own choice and a

human expert for that domain.
4) Identify a domain of expertise for which you are a
domain expert!
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 Applications of expert systems

• Expert systems have been developed for a wide

range of domains. These include systems giving
medical, legal or financial advice, but the range
of domains is increasing

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 Question

• Survey for examples of available Expert

Systems on the net.
• Discuss finding in the class with your
lecturer

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 What are the main differences between an
expert system and other information
systems such as decision-support systems\
(DSS), management information systems
(MIS), and executive information systems
(EIS)?

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 Categories of Expert Systems

The output provided by expert systems can be used for:

 Advice
 Classification
 Diagnosis
 Planning.

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 Tutorial Questions

Write down the category of each of the following expert systems.

a) An expert system that suggests what toy to buy for a child at Christmas.
b) An expert system that identifies different types of yachts.
c) An expert system that prepares an itinerary for a cycling holiday.
d) An expert system that suggests what is wrong with a faulty monitor.
e) An expert system that gives suggestions of jobs that the user might want to
consider.
f) An expert system that contains knowledge of radio stations and suggests
which radio station a user might prefer to listen to.
g) An expert system used in garden centres to suggest appropriate treatment
for different types of soil.
h) An expert system that identifies different types of transport.
i) An expert system used by home economists to prepare special menus

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 Components of Expert
Systems

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 Expert System Shell

• Anatomy of an expert system

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 Available Expert Systems Shell

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 Question

1) State the purpose of the expert system

2) So why bother developing systems to replace human experts?
3) Write down the advantages and disadvantages
4) Describe three functions of an expert system.
5) Where does the knowledge in an expert system come from?
6) An expert system entitled ‘Parliament: How it Works’ is being
created. Identify two appropriate domain experts for this expert
system.
7) Identify the three components of an expert system.
8) What two forms of output are generated from an expert system?

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 Summary of Main Teaching Points

• Expert systems use a different approach; they collect the

small fragments of human know-how into a knowledge-
base which is used to reason through a problem, using
the knowledge that is appropriate.
• A different problem, within the domain of the knowledge-
base, can be solved using the same program without
reprogramming. The ability of these systems to explain
the reasoning process through back-traces and to
handle levels of confidence and uncertainty provides an
additional feature that conventional programming doesn’t
handle

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 Question and Answer Session

Q&A

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 What we will cover next

• Expert Systems

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