Information Processes and Technology
Home > Information Processes and Technology > Decision Support Systems > Structure of Expert Systems
Structure of Expert Systems
Explanation mechanism
The explanation mechanism is an important feature of expert systems. It explains how the system has reached a decision and can also allow users to find out why it has asked a particular question. Because it is a rule based, the system is able to provide the user with an explanation of which rules were used during the inference process. This allows the user to make a judgement on the reliability of the decision. For example:
- The animal has no backbone therefore it is an invertebrate
- The invertebrate has an exoskeleton therefore it is an arthropod
- The arthropod has three main body parts therefore it is an insect
- The insect has a triangular shaped head and elliptical shaped body therefore it is a cockroach
Certainty
In the examples from the Animal-ID expert system all of the data held in the database of facts matched all of the IF THEN rules. The system could therefore confidently (1 or 100%) predict that the conclusions were true. However, if some parts of the IF THEN rules could not be matched with data held in the database of facts, the system could not be as confident.
For More Information
Back to Stucture of Expert Systems
|