Decision Support and Business Intelligence Systems, 9e (Turban)

Chapter 12 Artificial Intelligence and Expert Systems

1) Using the knowledge of many wine experts, MenuVino was able to develop an expert system
that mimics the advising that a person would receive from a wine guru.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 531

2) Most technologies used to support decision situations where expertise is required use
qualitative and/or mathematical models to provide the needed support.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 532

3) Artificial intelligence (AI) has many different definitions and is an area in management
science.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 532

4) Deep Blue is the first computer that demonstrated its intelligence in an area that requires
human intelligence.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 533

5) Artificial intelligent systems have the learning capabilities as humans have.

Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 535

6) It is easier to duplicate and disseminate natural intelligence than artificial intelligence.

Answer: FALSE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 537

7) The basic objective of computer vision is to generate pictures.

Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 540

8) The purpose of an intelligent computer-aided instruction (ICAI) is to learn.

Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 540

9) Inexact knowledge and imprecise reasoning are important aspects of expertise in applying
commonsense to decision-making situations.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 541

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10) Expertise is often acquired from training, reading, and experience in practice, and the level of
expertise determines the performance of a decision.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 543

11) Expert systems (ES) must have the ability to examine their own reasoning and provide
proper explanations as to why a particular conclusion was reached.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 544

12) Expert systems allow knowledge to be transferred more easily at a lower cost.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 545

13) Acquiring knowledge from experts is often a bottleneck in expert system construction.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 551

14) The knowledge base of an expert system and the knowledge base of an organization are the
same.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 551

15) The blackboard of an expert system is used for recording intermediate hypotheses and
decisions.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 551

16) The explanation subsystem of an expert system cannot trace responsibility for conclusions to
their sources and cannot explain the expert system behavior interactively.
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 552

17) Inference rules, or procedural rules, offer advice on how to solve a problem, given that
certain facts are known.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 557

18) In IF-THEN rules, the IF part indicates the condition for the rule to be activated, and the
THEN part shows the action or the conclusion if all IF conditions are satisfied.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 558

19) The first step in developing an ES is to identify the nature of the problem and to define who
is the proper expert responsible for the solving the problem
Answer: FALSE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 566
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20) By implementing ES and other intelligent systems as knowledge servers, it becomes
economically feasible and profitable to publish expertise on the Web.
Answer: TRUE
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 572

21) One does not have to rethink completely what to do every time a similar problem is
encountered, when using ________.
A) symbolic database
B) knowledge base
C) algorithms
D) rules of thumb
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 535

22) Which of the following technology allows computer users the ability to communicate with a
computer in their native language?
A) NAP
B) NLP
C) NBP
D) XML
Answer: B
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 537

23) Which of the following is an electromechanical device that can be programmed to perform
manual tasks?
A) Robot
B) Sensory systems
C) Tactile systems
D) Signal processing systems
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 539

24) In the traditional Boolean logic, a person's credit score is either good or bad. In ________,
the credit record may be assessed as both good and bad, but with different degrees.
A) genetic algorithms
B) artificial intelligence
C) language translation
D) fuzzy logic
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 541

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25) The solution of genetic algorithms is represented as a ________ for a specific problem.
A) cell
B) gene
C) DNA
D) chromosome
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 541

26) The basic rationale of artificial intelligence is to use ________ rather than mathematical
calculation.
A) mathematical calculation
B) symbolic reasoning
C) genetic algorithms
D) fuzzy logic
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 543

27) A rule-based expert system contains rules in its knowledge base and the rules are used to
generate ________ for the user.
A) questions
B) solutions
C) questions and solutions
D) none of the above
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 545

28) Which of the following is the major objective of an expert system?

A) To learn
B) To teach
C) To provide advice
D) To function as a knowledge repository
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 550

29) Which of the following is used by a nonexpert to obtain expert knowledge and advice?
A) Query environment
B) Development environment
C) consultation environment
D) Blackboard
Answer: C
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 550

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30) Which of the following components appear in virtually every expert system?
A) User interface
B) Database management system
C) Statistical analysis module
D) Numeric data representation
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 550

31) Which of the following is usually included in an expert system that interacts with users?
A) Blackboard
B) Justifier
C) Knowledge acquisition subsystem
D) All of the above
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 550

32) The knowledge base in expert system is composed of:

A) facts
B) heuristics and meta-rules
C) facts, heuristics, and meta-rules
D) facts, data, and knowledge rules
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 551

33) Which of the following is the brain of an expert system?

A) Knowledge base
B) Inference engine
C) User interface
D) Blackboard
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 551

34) Which of the following is not a typical type of problems recorded on blackboard?
A) Plan
B) Agenda
C) Solution
D) Key
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 552

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35) A knowledge engineer helps the expert structure the problem area by doing all of the
following tasks except:
A) decoding the heuristics
B) interpreting and integrating human answers to questions
C) drawing analogies
D) posing counterexamples
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 551

36) A major goal of ________ is to help experts articulate how they do what they do and to
document this knowledge in a reusable form.
A) heuristics
B) knowledge engineering
C) knowledge refinement
D) rule interpreting
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 553

37) Which of the following is not an advantage of using multiple experts in the development of
an ES?
A) groupthink
B) fewer mistakes
C) enhanced quality
D) wider domain
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 556

38) "If the stop light is red AND you have stopped, THEN a right turn is okay" is an example of:
A) a heuristic
B) a knowledge base
C) an inference rule
D) a production rule
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 557

39) The standard statistical methods are based on the assumption that an uncertainty is the
________ that an event is true or false, whereas certainty theory is based on the ________ that an
event is true or false.
A) estimated probability; calculated probability
B) probability; degrees of belief
C) calculated probability; estimated probability
D) degrees of belief; probability
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 561

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40) All of the following are benefits of ES except:
A) Reduced downtime
B) Capture of scarce expertise
C) Work well within wide domains of knowledge.
D) Elimination of the need for expensive equipment
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 570

41) ________ is a test designed to measure the intelligence of a computer.

Answer: Turing test
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 534

42) ________ are intuitive knowledge, or rules of thumb, learned from experience.
Answer: Heuristics
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 535

43) An ________ is a system that uses human knowledge captured in a computer to solve
problems that ordinarily require human expertise.
Answer: expert system
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 537

44) ________ is the recognition and understanding of spoken language by a computer.

Answer: Speech (voice) understanding
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 539

45) Sensory systems, such as vision systems, tactile systems, and signal-processing systems,
when combined with AI, define a broad category of systems generally called ________.
Answer: robots
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 539

46) ________ systems bring the power of a computer to bear on the educational process.
Answer: Intelligent tutoring
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 540

47) A(n) ________ network is a set of mathematical models that simulate the way a human brain
functions.
Answer: neural (computing)
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 540

48) ________ is a technique for processing linguistic terms, which extends the notions of logic
beyond simple true/false statements.
Answer: Fuzzy logic
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 541

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49) ________ are small programs that reside on computers to conduct certain tasks automatically
and it runs in the background, monitors the environment, and reacts to certain trigger conditions.
Answer: Intelligent agents
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 541

50) A(n) ________ is a person who has the special knowledge, judgment, experience, and
methods, and the ability to apply these talents to give advice and solve problems.
Answer: expert
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 542

51) The ________ is the foundation of an expert system, which includes the relevant knowledge
necessary for understanding, formulating, and solving problems.
Answer: knowledge base
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 551

52) The process of eliciting knowledge is called ________.

Answer: knowledge engineering
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 553

53) The ________ of an expert system is the rule interpreter.

Answer: inference engine
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 558

54) ________ is a goal-driven approach in which you start from an expectation of what is going
to happen and then seek evidence that supports or contradicts your expectation.
Answer: Backward chaining
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 558

55) ________ is a data-driven approach that starts from available information or from a basic
idea, which is used to try to draw conclusions.
Answer: Forward chaining
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 558

56) ________ express belief in an event, fact, or hypothesis based on the expert's assessment and
can be represented by values ranging from 0 to 100.
Answer: Certainty factors
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 561

57) ________ is the process that ensures the resulting knowledge base contains the knowledge
exactly the same as that acquired from the expert.
Answer: Verification
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 562

58) In ________ expert systems, knowledge in the knowledge base is represented in IF-THEN
rules that combine the condition and the conclusion for handling a specific situation.
Answer: rule-based
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 566
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59) An ________ is an expert system without the knowledge in the knowledge base.
Answer: expert system shell
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 567

60) The Web can greatly support the spread of multimedia-based ES. Such systems are called
________ systems.
Answer: intellimedia
Diff: 3 Page Ref: 573

61) Describe abilities that are signs of intelligence.

Answer:
• Learning or understanding from experience
• Making sense out of ambiguous or contradictory messages
• Responding quickly and successfully to a new situation (different responses, flexibility)
• Using reasoning in solving problems and directing conduct effectively
• Dealing with perplexing situations
• Understanding and inferring in ordinary rational ways
• Applying knowledge to manipulate the environment
• Thinking and reasoning
• Recognizing the relative importance of different elements in a situation
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 533

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62) Describe the characteristics of artificial intelligence.
Answer:
• Symbolic Processing. Symbolic processing is an essential characteristic of artificial
intelligence, as reflected in the following definition: Artificial intelligence (AI) is the branch of
computer science dealing primarily with symbolic, nonalgorithmic methods of problem solving.
This definition focuses on two characteristics:
• Numeric versus symbolic. Computers were originally designed specifically to process
numbers (i.e., numeric processing). However, people tend to think symbolically; our intelligence
seems to be based in part on our mental ability to manipulate symbols rather than just numbers.
Although symbolic processing is at the core of AI, this does not mean that AI does not involve
math, rather, the emphasis in AI is on the manipulation of symbols.
• Algorithmic versus heuristic. An algorithm is a step-by-step procedure that has well-defined
starting and ending points and is guaranteed to find a solution to a specific problem. Most
computer architectures readily lend themselves to this step-by-step approach. Many human
reasoning processes tend to be nonalgorithmic; in other words, our mental activities consist of
more than just following logical, step-by-step procedures. Rather, human thinking relies more on
rules learned from previous experience and gut feelings.
• Heuristics. Intuitive knowledge, or rules of thumb, learned from experience. Its role in AI is
seen in the following definition: Artificial intelligence deals with ways of representing
knowledge using symbols with rules-of-thumb, or heuristics, methods for processing
information. By using heuristics, one does not have to rethink completely what to do every time
a similar problem is encountered.
• Inferencing. As an alternative to heuristics, artificial intelligence also builds reasoning
capabilities that can build higher-level knowledge from existing heuristics. This reasoning
consists of inferencing from facts and rules using heuristics or other search approaches.
• Machine learning. Learning is an important capability for human beings. Artificial intelligent
systems do not have the learning capabilities as humans have, but they do have some sort of
mechanical learning capabilities, called machine learning, that allow the systems to adjust their
behavior and react to the changes in outside the environment. Many machine-learning methods,
including inductive learning, artificial neural networks (ANN), and genetic algorithms, exist for
developing intelligent systems.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 534

63) Describe heuristics and give an example. Why do many AI methods use heuristics?
Answer: Heuristics are intuitive knowledge, or rules of thumb, learned from experience. AI
deals with ways of representing knowledge using symbols with heuristics methods for processing
information. By using heuristics, we do not have to rethink completely what to do every time we
encounter a similar problem. For example, when a salesperson plans to visit clients in different
cities, a popular heuristic is to visit the next nearest one (i.e., the nearest-neighbor heuristic).
Many AI methods use heuristics to reduce the complexity of problem solving.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 535

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64) Identify the advantages of artificial intelligence over natural intelligence.
Answer:
• AI is more permanent. Natural intelligence is perishable from a commercial standpoint, in
that workers can change their place of employment or forget information. However, AI is
permanent as long as the computer systems and programs remain unchanged.
• AI offers ease of duplication and dissemination. Transferring a body of knowledge from one
person to another usually requires a lengthy process of apprenticeship; even so, expertise can
seldom be duplicated completely. However, when knowledge is embedded in a computer system,
it can easily be transferred from that computer to any computer on the Internet or on an intranet.
• AI can be less expensive than natural intelligence. There are many circumstances in which
buying computer services costs less than having corresponding human power carry out the same
tasks. This is especially true when knowledge is disseminated over the Web.
• AI, being a computer technology, is consistent and thorough. Natural intelligence is erratic
because people are erratic; they do not always perform consistently.
• AI can be documented. Decisions made by a computer can be easily documented by tracing
the activities of the system. Natural intelligence is difficult to document. For example, a person
may reach a conclusion but at some later date may be unable to re-create the reasoning process
that led to that conclusion, or to even recall the assumptions that were part of the decision.
• AI can execute certain tasks much faster than a human can.
• AI can perform certain tasks better than many or even most people.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 537

65) Identify the advantages of natural intelligence over artificial intelligence.

Answer:
• Natural intelligence is creative, whereas AI is rather uninspired. The ability to acquire
knowledge is inherent in human beings, but with AI, tailored knowledge must be built into a
carefully constructed system.
• Natural intelligence enables people to benefit from and use sensory experience directly,
whereas most AI systems must work with symbolic input and representations.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 537

66) List major applications and disciplines of AI.

Answer: See Figure 12.2 in the textbook.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 538

67) Describe fuzzy logic. Contrast fuzzy logic with Boolean logic.
Answer: Fuzzy logic is a technique for processing imprecise linguistic terms. It extends the
notions of logic beyond simple true/false statements to allow for partial (or even continuous)
truths. Inexact knowledge and imprecise reasoning are important aspects of expertise in applying
common sense to decision-making situations. In fuzzy logic, the value of true or false is replaced
by the degree of set membership. For example, in the traditional Boolean logic, a person's credit
record is either good or bad. In fuzzy logic, the credit record may be assessed as both good and
bad, but with different degrees.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 541

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68) Describe the capabilities of human experts.
Answer:
• Recognizing and formulating the problem
• Solving the problem quickly and correctly
• Explaining the solution
• Learning from experience
• Restructuring knowledge
• Breaking rules, if necessary
• Determining relevance
• Degrading gracefully (i.e., being aware of one's limitations)

Diff: 2 Page Ref: 543

69) Describe the characteristics of expertise.

Answer:
• Expertise is usually associated with a high degree of intelligence, but it is not always
associated with the smartest person.
• Expertise is usually associated with a vast quantity of knowledge.
• Expertise is based on learning from past successes and mistakes.
• Expertise is based on knowledge that is well-stored, organized, and quickly retrievable from
an expert who has excellent recall of patterns from previous experiences.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 543

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70) List and describe the generic categories of expert systems.
Answer:
• Interpretation systems infer situation descriptions from observations. This category includes
surveillance, speech understanding, image analysis, signal interpretation, and many kinds of
intelligence analyses. An interpretation system explains observed data by assigning them
symbolic meanings describing the situation.
• Prediction systems include weather forecasting, demographic predictions, economic
forecasting, traffic predictions, crop estimates, and military, marketing, and financial forecasting.
• Diagnostic systems include medical, electronic, mechanical, and software diagnoses.
Diagnostic systems typically relate observed behavioral irregularities to underlying causes.
• Design systems develop configurations of objects that satisfy the constraints of the design
problem. Such problems include circuit layout, building design, and plant layout. Design systems
construct descriptions of objects in various relationships with one another and verify that these
configurations conform to stated constraints.
• Planning systems specialize in planning problems, such as automatic programming. They
also deal with short- and long-term planning in areas such as project management, routing,
communications, product development, military applications, and financial planning.
• Monitoring systems compare observations of system behavior with standards that seem
crucial for successful goal attainment. These crucial features correspond to potential flaws in the
plan. There are many computer-aided monitoring systems for topics ranging from air traffic
control to fiscal management tasks.
• Debugging systems rely on planning, design, and prediction capabilities for creating
specifications or recommendations to correct a diagnosed problem.
• Repair systems develop and execute plans to administer a remedy for certain diagnosed
problems. Such systems incorporate debugging, planning, and execution capabilities.
• Instruction systems incorporate diagnosis and debugging subsystems that specifically address
the student's needs. Typically, these systems begin by constructing a hypothetical description of
the student's knowledge that interprets her or his behavior. They then diagnose weaknesses in the
student's knowledge and identify appropriate remedies to overcome the deficiencies. Finally,
they plan a tutorial interaction intended to deliver remedial knowledge to the student.
• Control systems adaptively govern the overall behavior of a system. To do this, the control
system must repeatedly interpret the current situation, predict the future, diagnose the causes of
anticipated problems, formulate a remedial plan, and monitor its execution to ensure success.
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 564

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