This article describes a task-specific, domain-independent architecture for candidate evaluation. I discuss the task-specific architecture approach to knowledge-based system development. Finally, I describe a task-specific expert system shell, which includes a development environment (Ceved) and a run-time consultation environment (Ceval). This shell enables nonprogramming domain experts to easily encode and represent evaluation-type knowledge and incorporates the encoded knowledge in performance systems.

Task-specific architectures are a growing area of expert system research. Evaluation is one task that is required in many problem-solving domains. This article describes a task-specific, domain-independent architecture for candidate evaluation. I discuss the task-specific architecture approach to knowledge-based system development. Next, I present a review of candidate evaluation methods that have been used in AI and psychological modeling, focusing on the distinction between discrete truth table approaches and continuous linear models. Finally, I describe a task-specific expert system shell, which includes a development environment (Ceved) and a run-time consultation environment (Ceval). This shell enables nonprogramming domain experts to easily encode and represent evaluation-type knowledge and incorporates the encoded knowledge in performance systems.

The design constructs about the functional aspects of these can be no more general than the Reviewed by Amit Mukerjee prototypes. A harbinger of actions, information that can then be learning and vocabulary inadequacy) change is perhaps the book Knowledge-Based used to refine or adapt the prototype may be why the authors turn to analog Design Systems by R. D. to meet the design goals. Coyne, M. A. Rosenman, A. D. Radford, problem is then reduced to the problem Where the book falls short is in M. Balachandran, and J. S. Gero of searching through these possible illustrating the difference between (Addison Wesley, Reading, Mass., control actions to identify a the design task and other traditional 1990, 567 pages): It presents the sequence that will result in the desired Much of the discussion concentrates view because the volume is based on techniques are used in this process. Some of the other problems encountered here will also planning-type search through a space issues that one would have thought be different. Indeed, it seems in vision, planning, learning, and so resulting in conflicting criteria that clear that a large number of design on.

In my Ph.D. dissertation (Bhansali 1991), I develop an integrated knowledge-based framework for efficiently synthesizing programs by bringing together ideas from the fields of software engineering (software reuse, domain modeling) and AI (hierarchical planning, analogical reasoning). Based on this framework, I constructed a prototype system, APU, that can synthesize UNIX shell scripts from a high-level specification of problems typically encountered by novice shell programmers. An empirical evaluation of the system's performance points to certain criteria that determine the feasibility of the derivational analogy approach in the automatic programming domain when the cost of detecting analogies and recovering from wrong analogs is considered.

There has been a good deal of discussion recently about the possibility of standardizing knowledge representation efforts, including the development of an interlingua, or knowledge interchange format (KIF), that would allow developers of declarative knowledge to share their results with other AI researchers. In this article, I examine the practicality of this idea. I present some philosophical arguments against it, describe a straw-man KIF, and suggest specific experiments that would help explore these issues.

The applications include the user-advised construction of an assembly line balancing system and a self-optimizing street light control system. The generalized production-rule strategy that is better than any other at Arizona State University. The estimation is based on for the decision maker to respond to. The system can serve as a module simulation models. of an expert system in need of numeric Figure 1 shows the or functional estimates of hiddenvariable Mazur, Robert F. geographically distributed input Cromp, Bede McCall, operations and knowledge bases. Bickmore, Jan van been in the area of forecasting and Leeuwen, João Martins, interpolating econometric indicators.

Each is supported and work to find a general solution to that by a formalized theory of the moves in the class of problems.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Virginia AT&T's Merrimack Valley Works The US Army Laboratory Command's (Richmond, VA) has developed an (North Andover, MA) has developed Human Engineering Laboratory expert system to classify, evaluate the Expert Capacity and Material (Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD) has and process medical claims. The system, System (XCAM), an expert system awarded a $2.4 million contract to called MedScreen, reportedly which simplifies forecast evaluations Carnegie Group (Pittsburgh, PA) to can process up to 500 claims in 45 for a manufacturing operation The continue work on a knowledge-based minutes, an operation that used to system automates the analysis of logistics planning system. The system take several days to complete. The IBM (Armonk, NY) and Dragon Systems NRM has been successfully deployed ICL (Birmingham, England) has completed (Newton, MA) have jointly in a number of Australian banks, as a pilot test of an intelligent developed VoiceType, a speech recognition well as a food storage and distribution system for field service diagnosing system based on elements of center. ICL used a laptop-based allows hands-free typing.

Intelligence (AAAI) hopes that these This year's conference featured a new A talk united by a set of related research This year's program represented an by Jim Green0 addressed modeling issues. Constraint this approach is not seen There was time to interact Reasoning and Component Technologies as often today. Where is it session following each set of presentations. Highlights from the program focused on a presentation on among the accepted papers. A panel entitled "How Long which ran for two consecutive days Until the Household Robot: The For the first time, Innovative Applications during the conference. The emergence State of the Art in Robotics" featured in Artificial Intelligence (IAAI) of the forum Planning, Perception, speakers from industry and Carnegie presentations and AI Online interactive and Robotics reflected a recent trend Mellon's Robotic Institute, who panels were presented concurrently in Planning, with videotapes and a live robot providing an impressive demonstration Perception, and Robotics included demonstration.

Building new knowledge-based systems today usually entails constructing new knowledge bases from scratch. It could instead be done by assembling reusable components. System developers would then only need to worry about creating the specialized knowledge and reasoners new to the specific task of their system. This new system would interoperate with existing systems, using them to perform some of its reasoning. In this way, declarative knowledge, problem- solving techniques, and reasoning services could all be shared among systems. This approach would facilitate building bigger and better systems cheaply. The infrastructure to support such sharing and reuse would lead to greater ubiquity of these systems, potentially transforming the knowledge industry. This article presents a vision of the future in which knowledge-based system development and operation is facilitated by infrastructure and technology for knowledge sharing. It describes an initiative currently under way to develop these ideas and suggests steps that must be taken in the future to try to realize this vision.