The shared expertise model for teaching interactive design assistants

Abstract

The growing complexity of contemporary engineering designs requires the use of sophisticated computer-based design tools. Such tools increase productivity in drafting, configuration and calculations. However, the current generation of design tools plays a rather passive role in the entire design process. Recent progress in knowledge-based engineering design, machine learning and knowledge acquisition allows the development of knowledge-based design assistants which could behave as active partners to human designers, rather than as passive graphical or computational tools. This paper presents the shared expertise model (SEM) of interaction between a human designer and a knowledge-based design assistant, in which the design assistant behaves as an apprentice and a collaborator in the design process. The human designer and his computer-based assistant create designs together, with the assistant proposing routine or even innovative designs, and the human designer correcting and finalizing these design, as well as specifying creative designs. In this process, the assistant also learns from the human designer, constantly extending and improving its knowledge base, and becoming a better design assistant. This is achieved by employing apprenticeship multistrategy learning based on a plausible version space representation. Within the SEM framework, a human designer with limited programming capabilities can directly develop and maintain a personalized knowledge-based design assistant. The use of SEM leads to increased capabilities of the expert-assistant design team. In this paper, some of the main features of the SEM model, as well as its implementation with the Disciple toolkit, are illustrated within the domain of computer workstation configuration.