1 Foreword

by Zoltán Baracskai

In the seventies were great prospects in the applications of Artificial Intelligence; which deflated in the eighties. Back then I wrote a book about the adolescence of Expert Systems. Rereading the text now, I see how much one can know by only reading about things, without actually trying. How much better it would have been if I had had the experience of business applications. Only the creations of some informaticians were available who were people without any business background.

In the last 16 years I developed my own system and I have about a hundred of running applications. Now I am able to unfold the real possibilities of expert system applications in business. And I have no reason to deprive the new generation of things what I have been curtailed of.

From the many years of experience with Expert System Shells a couple of principles rose, that are worth to consider:

• When facing a new solution, you should check whether there is a trial version with business examples and with a guide and/or ‘help’ feature – just to see in few minutes whether it fits you.
• On the input side, a KBS Shell has to provide the integrability with databases/data warehouses; while on the output side it should be able to export the knowledge base, in a convenient form for presentation, e.g. as an html page.
• Any action of the reasoning must be transparent and in one click, essentially, it is to be understandable.
• In addition to the software, there is a need for a Knowledge Engineer, whom we can trust, and whose role is not only to show which button to press, but also how to manage the acquired knowledge. The consultancy record can already help to build trust.

I paid special attention that the members of my development team follow these principles while developing the version 3.0 of Doctus KBS Shell.