Expert Systems
2 milestones in AI history
ResearchThe Birth of AI
DENDRAL: The First Expert System
DENDRAL automated chemical structure determination from mass spectrometry data. It used heuristic rules from domain experts to solve problems that normally required PhD-level expertise. Its successor Meta-DENDRAL could even generate new rules automatically.
Edward FeigenbaumJoshua LederbergStanford University
ProductExpert Systems Boom
R1/XCON: Expert Systems Go Corporate
R1 (later XCON) was deployed at DEC to configure VAX computer systems. It saved DEC an estimated $40 million per year. This commercial success sparked a gold rush: by 1985, companies were spending over $1 billion per year on expert systems.
John McDermottCarnegie Mellon UniversityDigital Equipment Corporation