Expert Systems

An expert system is a computer program that is designed to solve complex problems

and to provide decision-making ability like a human expert. It performs this by
extracting knowledge from its knowledge base using the reasoning and inference rules
according to the user queries.

The expert system is a part of AI, and the first ES was developed in the year 1970,
which was the first successful approach of artificial intelligence. It solves the most
complex issue as an expert by extracting the knowledge stored in its knowledge base.
The system helps in decision making for complex problems using both facts and
heuristics like a human expert. It is called so because it contains the expert knowledge
of a specific domain and can solve any complex problem of that particular domain.
These systems are designed for a specific domain, such as medicine, science, etc.

The performance of an expert system is based on the expert's knowledge stored in its
knowledge base. The more knowledge stored in the KB, the more that system improves
its performance. One of the common examples of an ES is a suggestion of spelling
errors while typing in the Google search box.

An expert system is AI software that uses knowledge stored in a knowledge base to

solve problems that would usually require a human expert thus preserving a human
expert’s knowledge in its knowledge base. They can advise users as well as provide
explanations to them about how they reached a particular conclusion or
advice. Knowledge Engineering is the term used to define the process of building an
Expert System and its practitioners are called Knowledge Engineers. The primary
role of a knowledge engineer is to make sure that the computer possesses all the
knowledge required to solve a problem.
Participants in the development of Expert System

There are three primary participants in the building of Expert System:

1. Expert: The success of an ES much depends on the knowledge provided by

human experts. These experts are those persons who are specialized in that
specific domain.
2. Knowledge Engineer: Knowledge engineer is the person who gathers the
knowledge from the domain experts and then codifies that knowledge to the
system according to the formalism.
3. End-User: This is a particular person or a group of people who may not be
experts, and working on the expert system needs the solution or advice for his
queries, which are complex.

Components of an Expert System :

Architecture of an Expert System

• Knowledge Base –
The knowledge base represents facts and rules. It consists of knowledge in
a particular domain as well as rules to solve a problem, procedures and
intrinsic data relevant to the domain.
• Inference Engine –
The function of the inference engine is to fetch the relevant knowledge
from the knowledge base, interpret it and to find a solution relevant to the
user’s problem. The inference engine acquires the rules from its
knowledge base and applies them to the known facts to infer new facts.
Inference engines can also include an explanation and debugging abilities.
 • Knowledge Acquisition and Learning Module –
The function of this component is to allow the expert system to acquire
more and more knowledge from various sources and store it in the
knowledge base.
• User Interface –
This module makes it possible for a non-expert user to interact with the
expert system and find a solution to the problem.
• Explanation Module –
This module helps the expert system to give the user an explanation about
how the expert system reached a particular conclusion.
The Inference Engine generally uses two strategies for acquiring knowledge from
the Knowledge Base, namely –

• Forward Chaining
• Backward Chaining
Forward Chaining –
Forward Chaining is a strategic process used by the Expert System to answer the
questions – What will happen next. This strategy is mostly used for managing tasks
like creating a conclusion, result or effect. Example – prediction or share market
movement status.

Forward Chaining
Backward Chaining –
Backward Chaining is a strategy used by the Expert System to answer the questions
– Why this has happened. This strategy is mostly used to find out the root cause or
reason behind it, considering what has already happened. Example – diagnosis of
stomach pain, blood cancer or dengue, etc.

Backward Chaining

Characteristics of an Expert System :

• Human experts are perishable, but an expert system is permanent.
• It helps to distribute the expertise of a human.
• One expert system may contain knowledge from more than one human
experts thus making the solutions more efficient.
• It decreases the cost of consulting an expert for various domains such as
medical diagnosis.
• They use a knowledge base and inference engine.
• Expert systems can solve complex problems by deducing new facts
through existing facts of knowledge, represented mostly as if-then rules
rather than through conventional procedural code.
• Expert systems were among the first truly successful forms of artificial
intelligence (AI) software.
Limitations :
• Do not have human-like decision-making power.
• Cannot possess human capabilities.
 • Cannot produce correct result from less amount of knowledge.
• Requires excessive training.
Advantages :
• Low accessibility cost.
• Fast response.
• Not affected by emotions, unlike humans.
• Low error rate.
• Capable of explaining how they reached a solution.
Disadvantages :
• The expert system has no emotions.
• Common sense is the main issue of the expert system.
• It is developed for a specific domain.
• It needs to be updated manually. It does not learn itself.
• Not capable to explain the logic behind the decision.
Applications :
The application of an expert system can be found in almost all areas of business or
government. They include areas such as –
o In designing and manufacturing domain
It can be broadly used for designing and manufacturing physical devices such
as camera lenses and automobiles.
o In the knowledge domain
These systems are primarily used for publishing the relevant knowledge to the
users. The two popular ES used for this domain is an advisor and a tax advisor.
o In the finance domain
In the finance industries, it is used to detect any type of possible fraud,
suspicious activity, and advise bankers that if they should provide loans for
business or not.
o In the diagnosis and troubleshooting of devices
In medical diagnosis, the ES system is used, and it was the first area where
these systems were used.
 o Planning and Scheduling
The expert systems can also be used for planning and scheduling some
particular tasks for achieving the goal of that task.

Example : There are many examples of an expert system. Some of them are given
below –
• MYCIN –
One of the earliest expert systems based on backward chaining. It can
identify various bacteria that can cause severe infections and can also
recommend drugs based on the person’s weight.
• DENDRAL –
It was an artificial intelligence-based expert system used for chemical
analysis. It used a substance’s spectrographic data to predict its molecular
structure.
• R1/XCON –
It could select specific software to generate a computer system wished by
the user.
• PXDES –
It could easily determine the type and the degree of lung cancer in a
patient based on the data.
• CaDet –
It is a clinical support system that could identify cancer in its early stages
in patients.
• DXplain –
It was also a clinical support system that could suggest a variety of
diseases based on the findings of the doctor.
Development of Expert Systems: General Steps

The process of ES development is iterative. Steps in developing the ES include −

Identify Problem Domain

• The problem must be suitable for an expert system to solve it.
• Find the experts in task domain for the ES project.
• Establish cost-effectiveness of the system.
Design the System
• Identify the ES Technology
• Know and establish the degree of integration with the other systems and
databases.
• Realize how the concepts can represent the domain knowledge best.
Develop the Prototype

From Knowledge Base: The knowledge engineer works to −

• Acquire domain knowledge from the expert.

• Represent it in the form of If-THEN-ELSE rules.
Test and Refine the Prototype
• The knowledge engineer uses sample cases to test the prototype for any
deficiencies in performance.
• End users test the prototypes of the ES.
Develop and Complete the ES
• Test and ensure the interaction of the ES with all elements of its environment,
including end users, databases, and other information systems.
• Document the ES project well.
• Train the user to use ES.
Maintain the System
• Keep the knowledge base up-to-date by regular review and update.
• Cater for new interfaces with other information systems, as those systems
evolve.
MYCIN
• Mycin is a computer program that was developed in the 1970s at Stanford
University. It was one of the first expert systems, and was designed to
diagnose and treat infections in humans. Mycin was written in the Lisp
programming language, and used a rule-based system to make decisions.

• Mycin was considered to be a success, and was used in several hospitals

during the 1970s and 1980s. However, expert systems like Mycin fell out
of favor in the 1990s, as more powerful and flexible artificial intelligence
techniques were developed. Mycin is no longer in use, but it remains an
important part of AI history.

Below are some steps to build an MYCIN:

o Firstly, ES should be fed with expert knowledge. In the case of MYCIN, human
experts specialized in the medical field of bacterial infection, provide
information about the causes, symptoms, and other knowledge in that domain.
o The KB of the MYCIN is updated successfully. In order to test it, the doctor
provides a new problem to it. The problem is to identify the presence of the
bacteria by inputting the details of a patient, including the symptoms, current
condition, and medical history.
o The ES will need a questionnaire to be filled by the patient to know the general
information about the patient, such as gender, age, etc.
o Now the system has collected all the information, so it will find the solution for
the problem by applying if-then rules using the inference engine and using the
facts stored within the KB.
o In the end, it will provide a response to the patient by using the user interface.