Our brain processes and combines the heuristics
intuitively. Unfortunately, a computer is no where near as effective as
our brain. In Exsys CORVID a special program called
an “Inference Engine” is used to analyze and combine the individual
rules to solve the larger problem. The Inference Engine determines:
- What possible answers there are to the problem
- What data is needed to determine if a particular
answer is appropriate
- If there is a way to derive or calculate the
needed data from other rules
- When enough data is available to eliminate a
possible answer, and stop asking unnecessary questions related to it
- How to differentiate between remaining answers
- Which answer is most likely, based on the rules
It is the Inference Engine that makes If/Then rules in
an expert system very different from simple If/Then commands in a
computer language such as Visual Basic or C++. Rules are not equivalent
to lines of code; they are facts that are automatically combined in
various ways by the Inference Engine. This makes the expert system
approach far more powerful, effective and maintainable for knowledge
delivery than traditional programming techniques.
Source: "A Guide to Using Exsys CORVID". Reprinted by
permission.
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