Conference heron::euro_swas_ai

259.0. "Anybody need AISE?" by ULYSSE::MCGREGOR () Tue Dec 18 1990 14:54

    The AISE System
    --------------- 
                 
    As some of you may know, the Valbonne AI group worked a couple of
    years ago on a Prolog based-tool which we called AISE. This tool was
    used as the basis of the Risk-Advisor and Benchmark-Advisor Systems.
    
    I would like to try to measure interest in this tool, and somehow
    "position it" with respect to other tools in the market, to see if it's
    worth investing in (other than the minimum to get into ASSETS). 
    
    Can you help?
    
    Background:
    ----------
    After letting AISE lie "on the shelf", for a year, we have decided to bring it
    down, shake the dust off, and make it available again....
    
    We are actually carrying out the work necessary to put AISE into the 
    ASSETS library at the end of January 91. This means basically:
    
    - Bringing the documentaion up to date (DW rather than UIS)
    
    - Getting the AISE DW interface to conform to DW "style-guide".
    
    
    
    What is AISE?
    ------------
    
    I do not mention all the features, simply give an idea of the tool!
    
    
    AISE consists of two components, the knowledge-editor KED, and the
    run-time interpreter INF.
    
    KED is a Decwindows editor, which allows you to define objects, and 
    specify for each object attribute a METHOD which defines how the
    attribute derives its value. These methods are written in a language
    which can combine the values of other objects logically or
    arithmetically. Here is an example method for an object called 
    BADLY_ORGANISED:
    
    if (PROJECT_MANAGER = no or REQ_SPEC = no) and SIZE^FINANCE > 3 then true 
    else false
    
    This links the object BADLY_ORGANISED to the objects PROJECT_MANAGER,
    REQ_SPEC, and SIZE.
    
    A NETWORK of objects is built up in this way, linked together by the 
    methods.  Methods can also be call-outs, or special methods which ask
    the user questions.
    
    You can create special objects called RECOMMENDATIONS which can be
    considered to be at the top of the network which is created. At 
    run-time, these are visible when they are TRUE; there are pieces of text 
    associated with them, and a component of KED allows you to define how 
    these are presented to the user at run-time, on-line or in reports. 
    
    There are ways in which you can modify the basic control mechanism,
    This is very simple, based on propagation of values through the
    network.
    
    There are a number of ways you can browse the network in KED to inspect the
    knowledge-base.
    
    When you are happy, you "compile" this knowledge, and create a run-time 
    system. 
    
    This gives a simple user-interface allowing modification of values, and
    presentation of the status of recommendations, on-line, or in a report
    as you defined in KED.  The network you created dynamically propagates
    value changes up and down the network and maintains consistency. This
    is sometimes called a "data-flow" model and you can think of it as
    analogous to the way spreadsheets work....
    
    
    
    What Types of Problem is AISE Good For?
    --------------------------------------
    
    AISE is good for constructing systems which request data in an
    "intelligent" way, and summarise or process this data to present it in
    a neatly formatted form, and come to some conclusions about it e.g.
    
    	- Intelligent Check-list
    	- A Process Advisor
    
    AISE is intended for incremental development of such knowledge-based
    systems. 
    
    
    AISE could be used as a "general purpose" shell, but is not built for
    this purpose...
    
    
    
    
    
    

    Befor we can answer to your question about the need of AISE, we need to
    reevaluate it in testing his functionalities. So can we have it for
    test?
    Regards.

We will make the kit available as soon as the doc is finished, that is to say
at the end of January. 

George.

    Is AISE still based on PROLOG?  If so, do your plans include a
    possible move to "C" or other conventional base?
    
    
    						Mark

Hi Mark,

The answer is Yes and No: AISE uses Prolog II+, and we have no plans to 
port it to C in the short-term. Two points:


1. We do not want to re-implement the features of Prolog in C, which is 
effectively what would be needed. My opinion is that people have to get used to 
tools and applications built with high-level (AI) languages, (as long as there 
are no performance limitations or space problems caused by the high level 
language itself). 
Otherwise we are only in the "prototype engineering" business...
What do you think?

2. Even if we wanted to do such a port, we don't have the resources!

 Ref :-1

	I'll raise my glass to thoss sentiments!

Joe.