Introduction to

Expert Systems
 Objectives

• Learn the meaning of an expert system

• Understand the problem domain and knowledge
domain
• Learn the advantages of an expert system
• Understand the stages in the development of an
expert system
• Examine the general characteristics of an expert
system

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 Objectives
• Examine earlier expert systems which have given
rise to today’s knowledge-based systems
• Explore the applications of expert systems in use
today
• Examine the structure of a rule-based expert
system
• Learn the difference between procedural and
nonprocedural paradigms
• What are the characteristics of artificial neural
systems

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 What is an expert system?

“An expert system is a computer system that

emulates, or acts in all respects, with the
decision-making capabilities of a human expert.”

Professor Edward Feigenbaum

Stanford University

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Fig 1.1 Areas of Artificial
Intelligence

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 Expert system technology
may include:
• Special expert system languages – CLIPS

• Programs

• Hardware designed to facilitate the

implementation of those systems

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Expert System Main Components

• Knowledge base – obtainable from books,

magazines, knowledgeable persons, etc.

• Inference engine – draws conclusions from the

knowledge base

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Figure 1.2 Basic Functions
of Expert Systems

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 Problem Domain vs. Knowledge
Domain
• An expert’s knowledge is specific to one problem
domain – medicine, finance, science,
engineering, etc.
• The expert’s knowledge about solving specific
problems is called the knowledge domain.
• The problem domain is always a superset of the
knowledge domain.

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 Figure 1.3 Problem and
Knowledge Domain Relationship

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Advantages of Expert Systems

• Increased availability
• Reduced cost
• Reduced danger
• Performance
• Multiple expertise
• Increased reliability

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 Advantages Continued

• Explanation

• Fast response

• Steady, unemotional, and complete responses at

all times

• Intelligent tutor

• Intelligent database

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 Representing the Knowledge

The knowledge of an expert system can be

represented in a number of ways, including IF-
THEN rules:

IF you are hungry THEN eat

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 Knowledge Engineering

The process of building an expert system:

1. The knowledge engineer establishes a dialog

with the human expert to elicit knowledge.
2. The knowledge engineer codes the knowledge
explicitly in the knowledge base.
3. The expert evaluates the expert system and
gives a critique to the knowledge engineer.

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Development of an Expert System

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 The Role of AI

• An algorithm is an ideal solution guaranteed to

yield a solution in a finite amount of time.
• When an algorithm is not available or is
insufficient, we rely on artificial intelligence
(AI).
• Expert system relies on inference – we accept a
“reasonable solution.”

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 Uncertainty

• Both human experts and expert systems must be

able to deal with uncertainty.
• It is easier to program expert systems with
shallow knowledge than with deep knowledge.
• Shallow knowledge – based on empirical and
heuristic knowledge.
• Deep knowledge – based on basic structure,
function, and behavior of objects.

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Limitations of Expert Systems

• Typical expert systems cannot generalize through

analogy to reason about new situations in the way
people can.

• A knowledge acquisition bottleneck results from

the time-consuming and labor intensive task of
building an expert system.

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 Early Expert Systems

• DENDRAL – used in chemical mass

spectroscopy to identify chemical constituents
• MYCIN – medical diagnosis of illness
• DIPMETER – geological data analysis for oil
• PROSPECTOR – geological data analysis for
minerals
• XCON/R1 – configuring computer systems

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Table 1.3 Broad Classes
of Expert Systems

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 Problems with Algorithmic
Solutions
• Conventional computer programs generally solve
problems having algorithmic solutions.

• Algorithmic languages include C, Java, and C#.

• Classical AI languages include LISP and

PROLOG.

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 Considerations for Building
Expert Systems
• Can the problem be solved effectively by
conventional programming?
• Is there a need and a desire for an expert system?
• Is there at least one human expert who is willing
to cooperate?
• Can the expert explain the knowledge to the
knowledge engineer can understand it.
• Is the problem-solving knowledge mainly
heuristic and uncertain?

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 Languages, Shells, and Tools

• Expert system languages are post-third

generation.
• Procedural languages (e.g., C) focus on
techniques to represent data.
• More modern languages (e.g., Java) focus on data
abstraction.
• Expert system languages (e.g. CLIPS) focus on
ways to represent knowledge.

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 Expert systems Vs
conventional programs I

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 Expert systems Vs
conventional programs II

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 Expert systems Vs
conventional programs III

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Elements of an Expert System

• User interface – mechanism by which user and

system communicate.
• Exploration facility – explains reasoning of
expert system to user.
• Working memory – global database of facts used
by rules.
• Inference engine – makes inferences deciding
which rules are satisfied and prioritizing.

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 Elements Continued

• Agenda – a prioritized list of rules created by the

inference engine, whose patterns are satisfied by
facts or objects in working memory.
• Knowledge acquisition facility – automatic way
for the user to enter knowledge in the system
bypassing the explicit coding by knowledge
engineer.
• Knowledge Base – includes the rules of the
expert system

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 Production Rules

• Knowledge base is also called production

memory.

• Production rules can be expressed in IF-THEN

pseudocode format.

• In rule-based systems, the inference engine

determines which rule antecedents are satisfied
by the facts.

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 Figure 1.6 Structure of a
Rule-Based Expert System

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Rule-Based ES

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Example Rules

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Inference Engine Cycle

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Foundation of Expert Systems

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 General Methods of Inferencing

• Forward chaining (data-driven)– reasoning from

facts to the conclusions resulting from those facts
– best for prognosis, monitoring, and control.
– Examples: CLIPS, OPS5
• Backward chaining (query/Goal driven)–
reasoning in reverse from a hypothesis, a
potential conclusion to be proved to the facts that
support the hypothesis – best for diagnosis
problems.
– Examples: MYCIN

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 Production Systems

• Rule-based expert systems – most popular type

today.
• Knowledge is represented as multiple rules that
specify what should/not be concluded from
different situations.
• Forward chaining – start w/facts and use rules do
draw conclusions/take actions.
• Backward chaining – start w/hypothesis and look
for rules that allow hypothesis to be proven true.

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 Post Production System

• Basic idea – any mathematical / logical system is

simply a set of rules specifying how to change
one string of symbols into another string of
symbols.
• these rules are also known as rewrite rules
• simple syntactic string manipulation
• no understanding or interpretation is required\also used to
define grammars of languages
– e.g BNF grammars of programming languages.

• Basic limitation – lack of control mechanism to

guide the application of the rules.
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 Markov Algorithm

• An ordered group of productions applied in order

or priority to an input string.
• If the highest priority rule is not applicable, we
apply the next, and so on.
• inefficient algorithm for systems with many
rules.
• Termination on (1) last production not applicable
to a string, or (2) production ending with period
applied
• Can be applied to substrings, beginning at left
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Markov Algorithm

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 Rete Algorithm
• Markov: too inefficient to be used with many rules
• Functions like a net – holding a lot of information.
• Much faster response times and rule firings can occur
compared to a large group of IF-THEN rules which
would have to be checked one-by-one in conventional
program.
• Takes advantage of temporal redundancy and structural
similarity.
• Looks only for changes in matches (ignores static data)
• Drawback is high memory space requirements.

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 Procedural Paradigms

• Algorithm – method of solving a problem in a

finite number of steps.

• Procedural programs are also called sequential

programs.

• The programmer specifies exactly how a problem

solution must be coded.

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Figure 1.8 Procedural
Languages

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 Imperative Programming

• Also known as statement-oriented

• During execution, program makes
transition from the initial state to the final
state by passing through series of
intermediate states.
• Provide rigid control and top-down-design.
• Not efficient for directly implementing
expert systems.
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 Functional Programming

• Function-based (association, domain, co-

domain); f: S T
• Not much control
• Bottom-up combine simple functions to yield
more powerful functions.
• Mathematically a function is an association or
rule that maps members of one set, the domain,
into another set, the codomain.
• e.g. LISP and Prolog

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 Nonprocedural Paradigms

• Do not depend on the programmer giving exact

details how the program is to be solved.
• Declarative programming – goal is separated
from the method to achieve it.
• Object-oriented programming – partly imperative
and partly declarative – uses objects and methods
that act on those objects.
• Inheritance – (OOP) subclasses derived from
parent classes.

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Figure 1.9 Nonprocedural
Languages

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 What are Expert Systems?

Can be considered declarative languages:

• Programmer does not specify how to achieve a

goal at the algorithm level.

• Induction-based programming – the program

learns by generalizing from a sample.

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 Summary

• During the 20th Century various definitions of AI

were proposed.
• In the 1960s, a special type of AI called expert
systems dealt with complex problems in a narrow
domain, e.g., medical disease diagnosis.
• Today, expert systems are used in a variety of
fields.
• Expert systems solve problems for which there
are no known algorithms.

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 Summary Continued

• Expert systems are knowledge-based – effective

for solving real-world problems.
• Expert systems are not suited for all applications.
• Future advances in expert systems will hinge on
the new quantum computers and those with
massive computational abilities in conjunction
with computers on the Internet.

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