Biology, Psychology
& Medicine
  Computer Science
  Discrete Math
This volume is part of the monograph series of the New Liberal Arts Program (1980-1992), a project of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The NLA Program had the goal of assisting in the introduction of quantitative reasoning and concepts of modern technology within liberal education. The Program was based on the conviction that college graduates should have been introduced to both areas if they are to live in the social mainstream and participate in the resolution of policy issues. The Center for Mathematics and Quantitative Education is delighted to make these monographs available.

 

EXPERT SYSTEMS:
Basic Concepts

Joseph D. Bronzino and Ralph A. Morelli
Trinity College

Encouraged by optimistic pronouncements about the power of artificial intelligence (AI), business leaders have invested heavily in developing new computer programs, called expert systems, which are designed to represent human knowledge or expertise. Consequently, it is not surprising that knowledge itself is about to become the new coin of the realm for industry and nations.

The field of Al and some of its basic applications, therefore, are important and need to be properly understood. With this in mind, this module is written to present the basic concepts underlying the general field of artificial intelligence and highlight the techniques employed in the development of knowledge-based expert systems.

The math includes, logic, neural nets, truth tables, hard counting problems, and development of computer algorithms.