Specifying an expert system

Abstract

Abstract The success of numerous expert systems in practical applications warrants a more formal approach to their development and evaluation. Reliability assurance of expert systems requires a methodology for the specification and evaluation of these systems. Expert systems are a new class of software system, but some traditional techniques of software development may be adapted to their construction. However, the specification of an expert system differs from that of a more traditional software program in that parts of the specification are permitted to be only partially described when development starts. Specifications have two important purposes: as contracts between suppliers and clients, and as blueprints for implementation. A specification consists of a problem specification and a solution specification. The problem specification plays the role of contract and states explicitly what the problem to be solved is, and the constraints that the final product must satisfy. The solution specification plays the role of blueprint and has two major aspects: analyzing how a human expert solves the problem, and proposing an equivalent automated solution. We propose an approach to the specification of expert systems that is flexible, yet rigorous enough to cover the important features of a wide range of potential expert system applications. We describe fully each of the components of an expert system specification and we relate specification to the issues of evaluation and maintenance of expert systems.