Expert system Facts for Kids

An expert system is a special computer program that runs on a computer. Think of it like a human expert, but inside a computer! It knows a lot about a specific topic.

People can ask an expert system questions. Then, the system uses a set of rules and facts to find answers. This smart way of solving problems is part of computer science called artificial intelligence. Different people might use expert systems in different ways, depending on what they need.

How Expert Systems Work
Types of Expert Systems
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How Expert Systems Work

Expert systems are built with three main parts:

A collection of facts, rules, and important ideas.
Information or data that the system uses its knowledge to solve.
A way for you to talk to the system, called a user interface.

When you ask a question, the expert system looks through its rules and facts. It uses them to filter the information it has. It might give you an answer right away, or it might ask you more questions to get a better idea of what you need.

Types of Expert Systems

There are different ways expert systems can be built to solve problems:

Case-Based Expert Systems

These systems learn from past experiences, like a detective solving a new case by remembering old ones. They have many "cases" stored. Each case describes a problem and how it was solved.

When a new problem comes up, the system tries to find a stored case that is very similar. Then, it uses the solution from that old case to help with the new problem. A challenge for these systems is figuring out how similar cases really are.

For example, a doctor's expert system might use this. If a patient has certain symptoms, the system could look for past patients with similar symptoms to help diagnose the problem.

Rule-Based Expert Systems

These systems don't use past cases. Instead, they use a list of "if-then" rules. These rules are usually written by human experts.

A rule might look like this: IF a person has a fever AND a cough, THEN they might have a cold. The system follows these rules step-by-step to reach a conclusion.

Decision Tree Systems

A third type of expert system uses something called a decision tree. Imagine a tree with branches. At each branch, the system asks a question or checks a piece of information. The answer to that question tells it which branch to follow next.

It keeps going down the branches until it reaches a "leaf" at the end. This leaf gives the answer or solution to the problem. These systems can even learn new things and add to their knowledge over time! The trick is to find the best questions to ask at each branch to get to the right answer quickly.