Expert system terms and building tools

The characteristics of an Expert System Building Tool (ESBT) capable of inference and hypothetical reasoning are discussed. The inference capabilities of ESBTs allow such functions as classification, design-synthesis, forecasting, decision-aiding, scheduling and planning, real-time monitoring, situation assessment, the discovery of novel relations, and debugging. ESBTs are noted to have made possible order-of-magnitude improvements in expert system construction. Higher-end ESBTs are moving from LISP machines to less expensive workstations, and lower-end ones are appearing on PCs.