Rule-Based Expert Systems: The Mycin Experiments (1984)

Summary

Rule-Based Expert Systems:The MYCIN Experiments of the Stanford Heuristic Programming Project Edited by Bruce G. Buchanan and Edward H. Shortliffe 754 pp., references, index, illus. electronic text Addison Wesley, Reading, MA, 1984 Out of print. All chapters are freely available below. Artificial intelligence, or AI, is largely an experimental science—at least as much progress has been made by building and analyzing programs as by examining theoretical questions. MYCIN is one of several well-known programs that embody some intelligence and provide data on the extent to which intelligent behavior can be programmed. As with other AI programs, its development was slow and not always in a forward direction. But we feel we learned some useful lessons in the course of nearly a decade of work on MYCIN and related programs. In this book we share the results of many experiments performed in that time, and we try to paint a coherent picture of the work. The book is intended to be a critical analysis of several pieces of related research, performed by a large number of scientists. We believe that the whole field of AI will benefit from such attempts to take a detailed retrospective look at experiments, for in this way the scientific foundations of the field will gradually be defined. It is for all these reasons that we have prepared this analysis of the MYCIN experiments. Contributors Foreword Allen Newell Preface Part One: Background Chapter 1—The Context of the MYCIN Experiments Chapter 2—The Origin of Rule-Based Systems in AI Randall Davis and Jonathan J. King Part Two: Using Rules Chapter 3—The Evolution of MYCIN’s Rule Form Chapter 4—The Structure of the MYCIN System William van Melle Chapter 5—Details of the Consultation System Edward H. Shortliffe Chapter 6—Details of the Revised Therapy Algorithm William J. Clancey Part Three: Building a Knowledge Base Chapter 7—Knowledge Engineering Chapter 8—Completeness and Consistency in a Rule-Based System Motoi Suwa, A. Carlisle ...