Introduction To Expert Systems (International Computer Science Series) - Hardcover

Jackson, Peter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0201876868 ISBN 13: 9780201876864

Publisher: Addison-Wesley, 1999

Synopsis

In May 1997, IBM's Deeper Blue defeated the world chess champion Gary Kasparov, showing that an artificial intelligence system can outplay even the most skilled of human experts. Since the first expert systems appeared in the late sixties, we have seen three decades of research and development engineer human knowledge to more practical ends, in a pioneering effort that has integrated diverse areas of cognitive and computer science. Today, expert systems exist in many forms, from medical diagnosis to investment analysis and from counseling to production control.

This third edition of Peter Jackson's best-selling book updates the technological base of expert systems research and embeds those developments in a wide variety of application areas. The earlier chapters have been refocused to take a more practical approach to the basic topics, while the later chapters introduce new topic areas such as case-based reasoning, connectionist systems and hybrid systems. Results in related areas, such as machine learning and reasoning with uncertainty, are also accorded a thorough treatment.

The new edition contains many new examples and exercises, most of which are in CLIPS, a language that combines production rules with object-oriented programming. LISP, PROLOG and C++ are also featured where appropriate. Interesting problems are posed throughout, and are solved in exercises involving the analysis, design and implementation of CLIPS programs.

This book will prove useful to a wide readership including general readers, students and teachers, software engineers and researchers. Its modular structure enables readers to follow a pathway most suited to their needs, providing them with an up-to-date account of expert systems technology.

Peter Jackson is Director of Research at West Group, a division of The Thomson Corporation and the leading provider of information to the US legal market. Peter drives the application of natural language and information retrieval technologies to the information needs of law and business. Previous appointments include Principal Scientist at the McDonnell Douglas Research Laboratories in Saint Louis, Missouri, and Lecturer in the Department of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

About this title

From the Author

About the forthcoming 3rd Edition of my book ...
In January 1999, Addison-Wesley will publish the 3rd Edition of my expert systems textbook. The 1st Edition, published in 1986, was arguably the first such text written primarily for students, as opposed to targeting researchers or the business world. It covered all the basic concepts of knowledge representation and control of inference that are fundamental to such systems.

The 2nd Edition expanded the purview of the earlier book, by including chapters on blackboard systems, machine learning, and truth maintenance systems. The more advanced material made the book more useful to graduate students, as well as bringing the general reader up to date. Various pedagogical improvements were also effected, e.g., more diagrams and exercises.

The 3rd Edition consolidates the treatment of the previous edition in a number of ways.

> It provides a gentler introduction to some of the key concepts of knowledge representation.

> It is less linear than previous editions, with an emphasis on ideas rather than systems.

> It contains many more programming examples and exercises.

> Almost all examples and exercises are in CLIPS, and there is a new 50-page Appendix on CLIPS programming.

> It includes new chapters on case based reasoning and hybrid systems.

> It describes new systems, such as ODYSSEUS, FRANK, and CATO.

> It describes new concepts, such as the KADS development framework and connectionist approaches.

> It introduces new application areas, such as information retrieval, tutoring systems, and report generation.

I hope that these enhancements will serve to make the book more accessible to the general reader, as well as providing students with an authoritative, up-to-date text.

Edition details

• Publisher: Addison-Wesley
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0201876868
• ISBN 13: 9780201876864
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 560