Reference: Combs, D. M.; Tu, S. W.; Musen, M. A.; & Fagan, L. M. From Expert Models to Expert Systems: Translation of an Intermediate Knowledge Representation. August, 1988.
Abstract: In designing a performance system and related knowledge-acquisition tool, we must decide wheter to combine or separate the knowledge structures for the two tools. We must also consider the level of abstraction, or conceptual model, that the knolwedge-acquition tool will present to its user. Systems that use a separate storage structure for each tool, and that present a knowledge- acquisition interface above the level of basic knowledge structures, must handle the complexities of the translation between knowledge-acquisition and knowledge-base structures. We explore the effects that the knowledge- acquisition interface, its intermediate knowledge representation, the knowledge base, and the performance system have on the translation process. Then, we examine the effects that details of the translation process have on the various structures and programs of the expert system as a whole. Finally, we consider some of the implications of seperating other components of an expert system from one another.