Building Large Knowledge Based Systems

Chapter one presents the Cyc "philosophy" or paradigm. Chapter 2 presents a global overview of Cyc, including its representation language, the ontology f its knowledge base, and teh environment which it functions. Chapter 3 goes into much more detail on the representation language, including the structure and function of Cyc's metalevel agenda mechanism. Chapter 4 presents heuristics for ontological engineering, the pricnples upon whcihc Cyc's ontology is based. Chapter 5 the provides a glimpse into the global ontology of knowledge. Chapter 6 explains how we "solve" (i.e., adequately handle) the various tough representation thorns (substances, time, space, structures, composite mental/physical objects, beliefs, uncertainty, etc. ). Chapter 7 surveys the mistakes that new knowledge tnereres most often commit. Chapter 8, the concluding chapter, includes a brief status report on the project, and a statement of goals and a timetable for the coming five years.

In the early days of artificial intelligence it was widely believed that powerful computers would, in the future, enable mankind to solve many real-world problems through the use of very general inference procedures and very little domain-specific knowledge. With the benefit of hindsight, this view can now be called quite naive. The field of expert systems, which developed during the early 1970s, embraced the paradigm that Knowledge is Power - even very fast computers require very large amounts of very specific knowledge to solve non-trivial problems. Thus, the field of large knowledge bases has emerged.

Knowledge-based systems are increasingly found in a wide variety of settings and this handbook has been written to meet a specific need in their widening use. While there have been many successful applications of knowledge-based systems, some applications have failed because they never received the corrective feedback that evaluation provides for keeping development focused on the users' needs in their actual working environment. This handbook provides a conceptual framework and compendium of methods for performing evaluations of knowledge-based systems during their development. Its focus is on the users' and subject matter experts' evaluation of the usefulness of the system, and not on the developers' testing of the adequacy of the programming code. The handbook permits evaluators to systematically answer the following kinds of questions: Does the knowledge-based system meet the users' task requirements? Is the system easy to use? Is the knowledge base logically consistent? Does it meet the required level of expertise? Does the system improve performance? The authors have produced a handbook that will serve two audiences: a tool that can be used to create knowledge-based systems (practitioners, developers, and evaluators) and a framework that will stimulate more research in the area (academic researchers and students). To accomplish this, the handbook is built around a conceptual framework that integrates the different types of evaluations into the system of development process. The kinds of questions that can be answered, and the methods available for answering them, will change throughout the system development life cycle. And throughout this process, one needs to know what can be done, and what can't. It is this dichotomy that addresses needs in both the practitioner and academic research audiences.

A monograph for specialists interested in building maintainable knowledge based systems, giving a unified methodology for the design of such systems

The design of knowledge systems is finding myriad applications from corporate databases to general decision support in areas as diverse as engineering, manufacturing and other industrial processes, medicine, business, and economics. In engineering, for example, knowledge bases can be utilized for reliable electric power system operation. In medicine they support complex diagnoses, while in business they inform the process of strategic planning. Programmed securities trading and the defeat of chess champion Kasparov by IBM's Big Blue are two familiar examples of dedicated knowledge bases in combination with an expert system for decision-making. With volumes covering "Implementation," "Optimization," "Computer Techniques," and "Systems and Applications," this comprehensive set constitutes a unique reference source for students, practitioners, and researchers in computer science, engineering, and the broad range of applications areas for knowledge-based systems.

In the past, applied artificial intelligence systems were built with particular emphasis on general reasoning methods intended to function efficiently, even when only relatively little domain-specific knowledge was available. In other words, AI technology aimed at the processing of knowledge stored under comparatively general representation schemes. Nowadays, the focus has been redirected to the role played by specific and detailed knowledge, rather than to the reasoning methods themselves. Many new application systems are centered around knowledge bases, i. e. , they are based on large collections offacts, rules, and heuristics that cap ture knowledge about a specific domain of applications. Experience has shown that when used in combination with rich knowledge bases, even simple reasoning methods can be extremely effective in a wide variety of problem domains. Knowledge base construction and management will thus become the key factor in the development of viable knowledge-based ap plications. Knowledge Base Management Systems (KBMSs) are being proposed that provide user-friendly environments for the construction, retrieval, and manipUlation of large shared knowledge bases. In addition to deductive reasoning, KBMSs require operational characteristics such as concurrent access, integrity maintenance, error recovery, security, and perhaps distribution. For the development ofKBMSs, the need to integrate concepts and technologies from different areas, such as Artificial Intel ligence, Databases, and Logic, has been widely recognized. One of the central issues for KBMSs is the framework used for knowledge representation-semantic networks, frames, rules, and logics are proposed by the AI and logic communities.

Knowledge Based Systems (KBS) are systems that use artificial intelligence techniques in the problem solving process. This text is designed to develop an appreciation of KBS and their architecture and to help users understand a broad variety of knowledge based techniques for decision support and planning. It assumes basic computer science skills and a math background that includes set theory, relations, elementary probability, and introductory concepts of artificial intelligence. Each of the 12 chapters are designed to be modular providing instructors with the flexibility to model the book to their own course needs. Exercises are incorporated throughout the text to highlight certain aspects of the material being presented and to stimulate thought and discussion.

The field of knowledge-based systems (KBS) has expanded enormously during the last years, and many important techniques and tools are currently available. Applications of KBS range from medicine to engineering and aerospace.This book provides a selected set of state-of-the-art contributions that present advanced techniques, tools and applications. These contributions have been prepared by a group of eminent researchers and professionals in the field.The theoretical topics covered include: knowledge acquisition, machine learning, genetic algorithms, knowledge management and processing under uncertainty, conflict detection and resolution, structured knowledge architectures, and natural language-based man-machine communication.The Applications include: Real-time decision support, system fault diagnosis, quality assessment, manufacturing production, robotic assembly, and robotic welding.The reader can save considerable time in searching the scattered literature in the field, and can find here a powerful set of how-to-do issues and results.

In this sequel to TAB's Knowledge Engineering - a guide for developers of expert systems - Steven Tuthill explores the important issues facing management professionals who oversee artificial intelligence and information processing networks in business, government and academia. Three sections explain: 1) terms and concepts of expert systems, 2) the theory of expert system management, and 3) field-tested management techniques. Tuthill includes a real-world model, as well as a chapter addressing common pitfalls.