Knowledge engineering: Difference between revisions

'''Knowledge Engineeringengineering''' ('''KE''') refers to all technical, scientific and social aspects involved in building, maintaining and using [[knowledge-based systems]].

== Background: Expert Systems ==

One of the first examples of an [[expert system]] was [[MYCIN]], an application to perform medical diagnosis. In the MYCIN example, the domain experts were medical doctors and the knowledge represented was their expertise in diagnosis.

Expert systems were first developed in artificial intelligence laboratories as an attempt to understand complex human decision making. Based on positive results from these initial prototypes, the technology was adopted by the US business community (and later worldwide) in the 1980s. The Stanford heuristic programming projects led by [[Edward Feigenbaum]] was one of the leaders in defining and developing the first expert systems.

In the earliest "cowboy" days of expert systems, there was little or no formal process for the creation of the software. Researchers just sat down with domain experts and started programming, often developing the required tools (e.g. [[inference engine]]s) at the same time as the applications themselves. As expert systems moved from academic prototypes to deployed business systems it was realized that a methodology was required to bring predictability and control to the process of building the software. There were essentially two approaches that were attempted:

The final issue with using conventional methods to develop expert systems was the need for [[knowledge acquisition]]. [[''Knowledge acquisition]]'' refers to the process of gathering expert knowledge and capturing it in the form of rules and ontologies. Knowledge acquisition has special requirements beyond the conventional specification process used to capture most business requirements.

These issues led to the second approach to knowledge engineering: development of custom methodologies specifically designed to build expert systems.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Feigenbaum|first1=Edward|last2=McCorduk|first2=Pamela|title=The Fifth Generation|url=https://archive.org/details/fifthgenerationa00feigrich|url-access=registration| edition = 1st | year = 1983 | publisher = [[Addison-Wesley]] | location = [[Reading, MA]] | isbn = 978-0-201-11519-2 | oclc = 9324691}}</ref> One of the first and most popular of such methodologies custom designed for expert systems was the [[Knowledge Acquisition and Documentation Structuring]] (KADS) methodology developed in Europe. KADS had great success in Europe and was also used in the United States.<ref>{{citation | last = Schreiber | first = August Th. | last2 = Akkermans | first2 = Hans | last3 = Anjewierden | first3 = Anjo | last4 = Dehoog | first4 = Robert | authorlink4 = Robert de Hoog (scientist) | last5 = Shadbolt | first5 = Nigel | authorlink5 = Nigel Shadbolt | last6 = Vandevelde | first6 = Walter | last7 = Wielinga | first7 = Bob | authorlink7 = Bob Wielinga | title = Knowledge engineering and management: the CommonKADS methodology | edition = 1st | year = 2000 | publisher = The MIT Press | location = [[Cambridge, MA]] | isbn = 978-0-262-19300-9 }}</ref>

* [[Knowledge acquisitionmanagement]]

* [[ExpertMethod systemsengineering]]

{{reflist}}

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080501180201/http://www.ksi.edu/ijsk.html The International Journal of Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering] – World Scientific

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080612045810/http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0266-4720&site=1 Expert Systems: The Journal of Knowledge Engineering] – Wiley-Blackwell

{{ComputableAutomated knowledgereasoning}}

[[Category:Knowledge engineering|* ]]