Page 46 - DCAP310_INTRODUCTION_TO_ARTIFICIAL_INTELLIGENCE_AND_EXPERT_SYSTEMS

Introduction to Artificial Intelligence & Expert Systems

Notes Systems should be designed with consideration for the user, the system (the IT infrastructure),
and the business goals. For each of these areas, you should outline key scenarios and identify
important quality attributes (for example, reliability or scalability) and key areas of satisfaction
and dissatisfaction. Where possible, develop and consider metrics that measure success in each
of these areas.
Figure 3.2: User, Business and System Goals

Trade-offs are likely, and a balance must often be found between competing requirements
across these three areas. For example, the overall user experience of the solution is very often a
function of the business and the IT infrastructure, and changes in one or the other can significantly
affect the resulting user experience. Similarly, changes in the user experience requirements can
have significant impact on the business and IT infrastructure requirements. Performance might
be a major user and business goal, but the system administrator may not be able to invest in the
hardware required to meet that goal 100 percent of the time. A balance point might be to meet
the goal only 80 percent of the time.
Architecture focuses on how the major elements and components within an application are used
by, or interact with, other major elements and components within the application. The selection
of data structures and algorithms or the implementation details of individual components are
design concerns. Architecture and design concerns very often overlap. Rather than use hard and
fast rules to distinguish between architecture and design, it makes sense to combine these two
areas. In some cases, decisions are clearly more architectural in nature. In other cases, the decisions
are more about design, and how they help you to realize that architecture.

3.2.4 Theories of Knowledge is Represented and Organized

Knowledge acquisition is the process of absorbing and storing new information in memory, the
success of which is often gauged by how well the information can later be remembered (retrieved
from memory). The process of storing and retrieving information depends heavily on the
representation and organization of the information. Moreover, the utility of knowledge can
also be influenced by how the information is structured. For example, a bus schedule can be
represented in the form of a map or a timetable. On the one hand, a timetable provides quick and
easy access to the arrival time for each bus, but does little for finding where a particular stop is
situated. On the other hand, a map provides a detailed picture of each bus stop’s location, but
cannot efficiently communicate bus schedules. Both forms of representation are useful, but it is
important to select the representation most appropriate for the task at hand. Similarly, knowledge
acquisition can be improved by considering the purpose and function of the desired information.

Knowledge Representation and Organization

There are numerous theories of how knowledge is represented and organized in the mind,
including rule-based production models, distributed networks, and propositional models.

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