A Guide To Expert Systems

A boy & his grandparents live near a cursed wood. the boy longs for a dog - but the ungainly creature found by his grandfatherhardly fits his image of the perfect pet. But then the dog starts to grow human ears!

Presents a step-by-step methodology for designing expert systems. Each chapter on design methodology starts with a problem and leads the reader through the design of a system which solves that problem.

The most popular basic introduction to Expert Systems is revised and updated to include new information on blackboard systems and has extended coverage of reasoning.

The vocabulary used with expert systems; Why expert systems?; What is an expert system?; Knowledge-base management and system evolution; Business opportunities offered by expert systems; Linking expert systems to toher software; The construction of expert systems; Verifying suitability of tasks for expert system support; Building expert systems; The expert system life cycle; Expert system construction requirements; Tools for building expert systems; Languages; Expert system shells; Commercial expert system shells; Hardware for expert systems; Construction strategies; development of a personal computer expert system; How ro select the right tools; The future of expert system technology; Index.

Not long ago" Dennis Merritt wrote one of the best books that I know of about implementing expert systems in Prolog, and I was very glad he published it in our series. The only problem is there are still some unfortunate people around who do not know Prolog and are not sufficiently prepared either to read Merritt's book, or to use this extremely productive language, be it for knowledge-based work or even for everyday programming. Possibly this last statement may surprise you if you were under the impression that Prolog was an "artificial intelligence language" with very limited application potential. Please believe this editor's statement that quite the opposite is true: for at least four years, I have been using Prolog for every programming task in which I am given the option of choosing the language. Therefore, I 'am indeed happy that Dennis Merritt has written another good book on my language of choice, and that it meets the high standard he set with his prior book, Building Expert Systems in Prolog. All that remains for me to do is to wish you success and enjoyment when taking off on your Adventure in Prolog.

This book delivers a simple, proven-effective means for building prototype expert systems. The points concerning diverse problems, such as selecting applications, knowledge acquisition, and strategic issues such as controlling questioning are clear and useful. As a basic guide for designing expert systems, the book offers the classification model as a common theme for describing how certain expert programs solve problems. Problem definition, elements of knowledge, and uncertain reasoning are treated concisely. The brief discussion of traditional problem-solving methods, such as decision theory, is valuable. The book concludes with an interesting, down-to-earth essay on the state of the art and consideration of the future.