A short survey of expert systems in UK business

The paper summarises the results of a survey on behalf of the Alvey Directorate, conducted in 1983—4, of the use made of expert systems in twelve large UK firms. The survey points clearly to the conclusion that firms do not need to start with large state-of-the-art expert systems. A practical and useful entry point is provided by simpler systems, that is, those for which the knowledge base is clear cut, the expert is available and forthcoming, the knowledge is certain, the hypotheses definite and the ancillary data are valid. The author urges influential persons in an institution uncertain whether to use expert systems to make an exploratory entry and observe the results before making a final decision.
The author believes that in the longer term expert systems will have to be designed to interface with 'popular' business language databases and with other systems. He gives some guidelines to relevant developments.