Knowledge Management and Specialized Information Systems - Principles of Information Systems - page 449

example of a system that learns. 33 The Web site is an artificial intelligence game that learns
as people play.

20Q is an online game where users
play the popular game Twenty
Questions against an artificial
intelligence foe.
(Source: www.20q.net.)

• Handle complex situations. People are often involved in complex situations. World
leaders face difficult political decisions regarding terrorism, conflict, global economic
conditions, hunger, and poverty. In a business setting, top-level managers and executives
must handle a complex market, challenging competitors, intricate government regu-
lations, and a demanding workforce. Even human experts make mistakes in dealing with
these situations. Developing computer systems that can handle perplexing situations
requires careful planning and elaborate computer programming.
• Solve problems when important information is missing. The essence of decision
making is dealing with uncertainty. Often, decisions must be made with little information
or inaccurate information because obtaining complete information is too costly or impos-
sible. Today, AI systems can make important calculations, comparisons, and decisions
even when information is missing.
• Determine what is important. Knowing what is truly important is the mark of a good
decision maker. Developing programs and approaches to allow computer systems and
machines to identify important information is not a simple task.

•

React quickly and correctly to a new situation. A small child, for example, can look over
a ledge or a drop-off and know not to venture too close. The child reacts quickly and
correctly to a new situation. Computers, on the other hand, do not have this ability
without complex programming.

•

Understand visual images. Interpreting visual images can be extremely difficult, even for
sophisticated computers. Moving through a room of chairs, tables, and other objects can
be trivial for people but extremely complex for machines, robots, and computers. Such
machines require an extension of understanding visual images, called a perceptive
system . Having a perceptive system allows a machine to approximate the way a person
sees, hears, and feels objects. Military robots, for example, use cameras and perceptive
systems to conduct reconnaissance missions to detect enemy weapons and soldiers.
Detecting and destroying them can save lives.

perceptive system
A system that approximates the way
a person sees, hears, and feels
objects.