Chapter 09

Expert System
Xiu-jun GONG (Ph. D)
School of Computer Science and Technology, Tianjin
University
gongxj@tju.edu.cn
http://cs.tju.edu.cn/faculties/gongxj/course/ai/
Outline
 The definition and its framework

 Components: reasoning technology

 Steps for developing an ES quickly

 Successful scenarios of ESs

 Pros & cons

The definition
 An Expert System (a knowledge based
system)
 a computer program that contains some of the
subject-specific knowledge, and contains the
knowledge and analytical skills of one or more
human experts.
 Features:
 ES provides expert quality advice, diagnosis or
recommendations.
 ES solves real problems which normally would
require a human expert.
Framework of ES
Domain Knowledge
User Expert Engineer

User Interface

Knowledge
Interpreter acquisition

Dynamic Reasoning
Knowledge base
database machine

ES Core
Components of ES (1)
 Knowledge base: store special knowledge
from domain experts.
 Reasoning machine: inferences from
domain knowledge and user’s evidence,
draws a conclusion. It consists of
reasoning strategies and control sets.
 Knowledge acquisition : the transformation
of knowledge from the forms in which it is
available in the world into forms that can
be used by a knowledge system
Components of ES (2)
 Interpreter: Justify ‘why’ a question was
asked and ‘how’ it reached some
conclusion.
 Dynamic database:
 All info about the current problem.
 All conclusion that the system has been able to
derive
 User interface: interact with application
developer, domain expert, and knowledge
engineer.
Reasoning technology
 Deduction
 Abduction
 Induction
 Inference in rule-based systems
Inference in rule-based systems (1)
 Domain knowledge
is represented as
IF-THEN rules
 Data are facts
about the current
situation.
Inference in rule-based systems (2)
 Inference chains
 Forward Chaining (Data – Driven)
 for analysis and interpretation.
 Backward Chaining (Goal – Driven)
 for diagnosis
Forward Chaining (Data – Driven)
 Reasoning starts from data and proceeds
forward with that data
 Each time only the top most rule is
executed.
 When fired, the rule adds a new fact in the
database.
 Any rule can be executed only once
 The match-fire cycle stops when no
further rule can be fired
Backward Chaining (Goal –
Driven)
 The ES has the goal (a hypothetical
solution) and the inference engine
attempts to prove it.
 Find rules that might have the desired
solution in the THEN parts
 Subgoal(s) might be needed in proving the
IF parts
 Search rules that can prove the subgoal
 The process repeats.
How to develop an ES (1)
 ES vs problem-solving system
 ES = knowledge + reasoning
 program = data structure + algorithm
 The difference is the way domain know is
encoded in between.
 Two basic steps:
 Extracting the relevant knowledge from the
human expert by a knowledge engineer.
 S/he then develops the knowledge base of the
ES
How to develop an ES (2)
 Knowledge acquisition generally involve
interviewing the expert
 An ES should be
 easily inspected and modified
 able to explain its reasoning
 Tools for building an ES
 Program language ： LISP ， PROLOG ， C++
 General ES tool: OPS, UNITS, RLL,ROSIE
 ES Shell: EMYCIN, KAS, EXPERT, InterModeller
LISP
 The name LISP derives from "LISt Processing"
 Components
  Linked lists are one of Lisp languages' major data
structures
 Lisp source code is itself made up of lists
  All program code is written as s-expressions, or
parenthesized lists
 Two well-known dialects:
 Common Lisp->CLISP: http://clisp.cons.org/
 Scheme-R6RS->Ikarus: http://ikarus-scheme.org/
Prolog 
 Features:
 The program logic is expressed in terms of relations,
represented as facts and rules
 A computation is initiated by running a query over
these relations
 Standards: ISO Prolog:
http://pauillac.inria.fr/~deransar/prolog/docs.html
 The precise nature of unification
 The precise semantics of the language;
 Implementations
 GNU Prolog: http://www.gprolog.org/
 SWI-Prolog: http://www.swi-prolog.org
Successful scenarios of ESs
 Dendral - analyse mass spectra
 Dipmeter Advisor - analysis of data gathered during oil
exploration
 Mycin - diagnose infectious blood diseases and recommend
antibiotics (by Stanford University)
 CADUCEUS (expert system) - blood-borne infectious bacteria
 NEXPERT Object - An early general-purpose commercial
backwards-chaining inference engine used in the
development of Expert Systems
 SHINE Real-time Expert System - Spacecraft Health
INference Engine
 Informavores Firefly - Browser based expert systems
environment built using flow charts and used in the
development of Expert Systems
Pros & Cons (1)
 Pros:
 Provide consistent answers for repetitive
decisions, processes and tasks
 Hold and maintain significant levels of
information
 Reduces creating entry barriers to competitors
 Review transactions that human experts may
overlook
Pros & Cons (2)
 Cons
 The lack of human common sense needed in some
decision makings
 The creative responses human experts can respond to in
unusual circumstances
 Domain experts not always being able to explain their
logic and reasoning
 The challenges of automating complex processes
 The lack of flexibility and ability to adapt to changing
environments as questions are standard and cannot be
changed
 Not being able to recognize when no answer is available