Explanation of Construction Engineering Knowledge in Expert Systems
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 114, Issue 3
Abstract
Critical attention is being given to the application of expert systems to civil and construction engineering problems. A central feature of expert systems is the ability to explain the reasoning that these systems are using. This paper provides a succinct survey of some of the explanation features commonly found in expert systems. The paper presents the logic and computer code for a C language explanation facility which was developed for use with the M.1 expert system shell. The C program is context‐sensitive and allows explanations to be nested so the user can request progressively more detailed explanations. In addition to the explanation feature, the C program will allow access to ASCII files contain a variety of information. The C program has been used in some applications to access “help,” “conclusions,” “warning,” or “assumption” files. The paper provides a demonstration of the explanation program in a simple civil engineering context.
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References
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Buchanan, B., and Shortliffe, E., eds. (1984). “Explanation as a topic of AI research.” Rule‐based expert systems, Addison‐Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, Mass., 331–337.
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Scott, A. C., et al. (1984). “Methods for generation explanations.” Rule‐based expert systems, B. Buchanan and E. Shortliffe, eds., Addison‐Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, Mass.
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Copyright © 1988 ASCE.
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Published online: Mar 1, 1988
Published in print: Mar 1988
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