lisplog@uklirb.UUCP ("Bernd Bachmann") (12/12/88)
AN INFORMAL PROPOSAL FOR A NEWSGROUP ON EXPERT SYSTEM SHELLS
Bernd Bachmann, Harold Boley, Norbert Kratz, Robert Rehbold,
Michael M. Richter, Peter Spieker, Thomas Wetter
Paper address: FB Informatik, Univ. 675 Kaiserslautern, Box 3049, W. Germany
Email address: lisplog@uklirb.uucp
In previous years 'expert systems' (also known as 'knowledge based
systems') have moved from AI laboratories to the marketplace. These
XPS are frequently implemented with the aid of expert system shells
(abbreviated 'shells' in the following). Due to this fact more and more
developers, analysts and users are involved with shells and related
fields. Therefore time seems ripe to start a new (moderated)
newsgroup, which could discuss and inform about several topics:
- Develop a systematic terminology for discussing 'expert systems'
and 'expert system shells': Which components should it include? Where
are the boundaries between shells and other intelligent (?!) software
tools like LISP-PROLOG integrations, database query languages,
graphics interfaces etc.
- Collect information that helps people in companies and universities
to decide which shell or group of shells is most suitable for
successful application in their specific domain. While watching the
newsgroups already involved in AI one can notice a great interest in
this topic, but nevertheless a lack of condensed information on how to
select an appropriate shell is obvious.
- Inspire developers to take into account the requirements of AI
programmers, knowledge engineers and end users, employing the shells.
- Discuss existing shells. Very often shells provide a 'glittering'
user interface that hides the essential capabilities of the product.
Discussing this topic could help to move the point of view from the
surface to the 'kernel', which should include the AI methods of
knowledge representation schemes and inference or search mechanisms.
The above topics only cover a small part of the wide range of the AI
subfield of 'expert system shells'. A lot of interesting questions and
problems that should be discussed may be found spontaneously.
We suggest to install a new newsgroup called comp.ai.shells, which we
would be willing to start moderating. In our opinion, moderation is
necessary to prevent the newsgroup from being used as an advertising
medium and to prevent contributions of limited interest ("Who has the
source of shell ... in Palo Alto?"; "Who has worked with shell ... in
Kaiserslautern?"; etc.). Nevertheless companies will be invited to
participate actively in the discussion, especially if their products
contain new aspects or are of academic interest.
Additionally our aim is to continue the compilation of a bibliography
on 'expert system shells', based on the following procedure: Everybody
is invited to email or post appropriate references to us in a format
that can be used by the UNIX 'refer' utility (if you are not familiar
with 'refer', please consult the UNIX manual). The incremental changes
of the bibliography will be periodically posted to the newsgroup. All
users on each site can append them as ASCII files to their previously
collected references. The bibliography can then be used by UNIX
utilities to be 'pretty printed' (in the normal bibliography format)
or to be sorted or searched using various keys.
If you have any remarks (pros or cons) about the general proposal or
its specific topics, please send them to the above email address. In
case you need further information, please do include your physical
("paper") address.
If the proposal is of common interest we will post a formal call for
votes to news.groups and comp.ai.digest.