in computer Artificial Intelligencea reasoning process that allows the computer to draw deductions, producing new information, modifying rules, or writing new rules. The computer is thereby allowed to learn from data it has stored.
a computer program that uses stored information to draw conclusions about a particular case. It differs from a database, which merely calls up stored information and presents it to the user unchanged. Expert systems are widely used to troubleshoot defects in machines; they have also been used successfully to diagnose diseases or recommend manufactured products.
Every expert system consists of three parts: (1) a user interface, which is away of communicating with the user through such devices as menus, commands, or short-answer questions (see user interface); (2) a knowledge base containing stored expertise; and (3) an inference engine, which draws conclusions by performing simple logical operations on the knowledge base and the information supplied by the user.
