Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
SUMMARY
Principle
Knowledge management allows organizations to
share knowledge and experience among their
managers and employees.
process symbols. Computers are better than people at trans-
ferring information, making a series of calculations rapidly
and accurately, and making complex calculations, but human
beings are better than computers at all other attributes of
intelligence.
Artificial intelligence is a broad field that includes several
key components, such as expert systems, robotics, vision
systems, natural language processing, learning systems, and
neural networks. An expert system consists of the hardware
and software used to produce systems that behave as a
human expert would in a specialized field or area (e.g., credit
analysis). Robotics uses mechanical or computer devices to
perform tasks that require a high degree of precision or are
tedious or hazardous for humans (e.g., stacking cartons on a
pallet). Vision systems include hardware and software that
permit computers to capture, store, and manipulate images
and pictures (e.g., face-recognition software). Natural lan-
guage processing allows the computer to understand and
react to statements and commands made in a “natural” lan-
guage, such as English. Learning systems use a combination
of software and hardware to allow a computer to change how
it functions or reacts to situations based on feedback it
receives (e.g., a computerized chess game). A neural network
is a computer system that can simulate the functioning of a
human brain (e.g., disease diagnostics system). A genetic
algorithm is an approach to solving large, complex problems
in which a number of related operations or models change
and evolve until the best one emerges. The approach is based
on the theory of evolution, which requires variation and nat-
ural selection. Intelligent agents consist of programs and a
knowledge base used to perform a specific task for a person,
a process, or another program.
Knowledge is an awareness and understanding of a set of
information and the ways that information can be made useful
to support a specific task or reach a decision. A knowledge
management system (KMS) is an organized collection of peo-
ple, procedures, software, databases, and devices used to
create, store, share, and use the organization's knowledge
and experience. Explicit knowledge is objective and can be
measured and documented in reports, papers, and rules.
Tacit knowledge is hard to measure and document and is typ-
ically not objective or formalized.
Knowledge workers are people who create, use, and dis-
seminate knowledge. They are usually professionals in sci-
ence, engineering, business, and other areas. The chief
knowledge officer (CKO) is a top-level executive who helps the
organization use a KMS to create, store, and use knowledge
to achieve organizational goals. Some organizations and pro-
fessions use communities of practice (COP) to create, store,
and share knowledge. A COP is a group of people or a com-
munity dedicated to a common discipline or practice, such as
open-source software, auditing, medicine, engineering, and
other areas.
Obtaining, storing, sharing, and using knowledge is the
key to any KMS. The use of a KMS often leads to additional
knowledge creation, storage, sharing, and usage. Many tools
and techniques can be used to create, store, and use knowl-
edge. These tools and techniques are available from IBM,
Microsoft, and other companies and organizations.
Principle
Expert systems can enable a novice to perform at
the level of an expert but must be developed and
maintained very carefully.
Principle
Artificial intelligence systems form a broad and
diverse set of systems that can replicate human
decision making for certain types of well-defined
problems.
An expert system consists of a collection of integrated and
related components, including a knowledge base, an infer-
ence engine, an explanation facility, a knowledge acquisition
facility, and a user interface. The knowledge base is an exten-
sion of a database, discussed in Chapter 5, and an information
and decision support system, discussed in Chapter 10. It con-
tains all the relevant data, rules, and relationships used in the
expert system. The rules are often composed of if-then state-
ments, which are used for drawing conclusions. Fuzzy logic
allows expert systems to incorporate facts and relationships
into expert system knowledge bases that might be imprecise
or unknown.
The term artificial intelligence is used to describe computers
with the ability to mimic or duplicate the functions of the
human brain. The objective of building AI systems is not to
replace human decision making completely but to replicate it
for certain types of well-defined problems.
Intelligent behavior encompasses several characteristics,
including the abilities to learn from experience and apply this
knowledge to new experiences; handle complex situations
and solve problems for which pieces of information might be
missing; determine relevant information in a given situation,
think in a logical and rational manner, and give a quick and
correct response; and understand visual images and
