3 LEVELS OF BENEFITS IN EXPERT-SYSTEMS

This paper is not about knowledge representation, nor knowledge structures, nor knowledge elicitation, nor even expert systems methodology. It is about the use of expert systems in their working context. Little has been written about the usage of expert systems from a theoretical point of view. What has been written from a practitioner's point of view often lacks structure, and thus can make only minor contributions to understanding and predicting the usage of expert systems. In an attempt to fill this gap, this paper proposes a model of benefits of expert systems. The model has three levels and benefits of various kinds are classified into three types. The paper presents a deductive argument for the model, rather than an inductive one, since full empirical studies have yet to be carried out. However, a case study is outlined that indicates the applicability of the model.