Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!hplabs!sri-unix!SHEBS@UTAH-20.ARPA From: SHEBS@UTAH-20.ARPA Newsgroups: net.ai Subject: Windows and Expert Systems Message-ID: <12454@sri-arpa.UUCP> Date: Thu, 27-Sep-84 12:09:16 EDT Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.12454 Posted: Thu Sep 27 12:09:16 1984 Date-Received: Sun, 30-Sep-84 04:48:50 EDT Lines: 26 From: Stan ShebsHas anyone else become bothered by the recent apparent equation between window packages and expert system tools? The recent spiel on Teknowledge's M.1 takes care to mention that it provides windows (along with other features). However, other vendors (for instance all of those at the recent AAAI) seem to emphasize their window and menu capabilities at the expense of actual reasoning capacity. Recent papers on expert systems at both AAAIs and IJCAIs include the obligatory picture of a screen with all the capabilities being shown at once (even if they're not really related to the paper's content). What's going on? Does a window system really have something substantial to offer expert systems development? If so, what is it? Ultra-high bandwidth for display, so that the system doesn't have to decide what the user wants to see - it just shows everything? Do people get entranced by all the pretty pictures? Ease of managing multiple processes (what expert system tools can even employ multiple communicating processes)? We've got zillions of machines with window systems around here, but they seem supremely irrelevant to the process of expert system development (perhaps because I tend to regard a system that requires only low-bandwidth communication to be more inherently intelligent - it has to do more inference to supply missing information). Can anyone give a solid justification for windows being an essential part of an expert systems tool? (Please no one say anything about it being easier to sell tools with flashy graphics...) stan shebs