Neural expert systems

Abstract

The advantages and disadvantages of classical rule-based and neural approaches to expert system design are complementary. We propose a strictly neural expert system architecture that enables the creation of the knowledge base automatically, by learning from example inferences. For this purpose, we employ a multilayered neural network, trained with generalized back propagation for interval training patterns, which also makes the learning of patterns with irrelevant inputs and outputs possible. We eliminate the disadvantages of the neural approach by enriching the system with the heuristics to work with incomplete information, and to explain the conclusions. The structure of the expert attributes is optional, and a user of the system can define the types of inputs and outputs (real, integer, scalar type, and set), and the manner of their coding (floating point, binary, and unary codes). We have tested our neural expert system on several nontrivial real-world problems (e.g., the diagnostics and progress prediction of hereditary muscular disease), and the results are very good.