Rapid prototyping techniques for expert systems

Recent developments in rapid prototyping tools for expert system development are described. KITTEN and AQUINAS are integrated prototyping systems providing knowledge acquisition tools encompassing a diversity of forms of knowledge and relationships between knowledge. KITTEN can access a wide range of knowledge sources including text, interviews with experts, and observations of expert behavior. AQUINAS can present knowledge from multiple sources with clarity as to its derivation, consequences, and structural relations. Both systems can encompass a diversity of perspectives including partial or contradictory input from different experts. Users of these knowledge acquisition tools are able to apply the knowledge in a variety of familiar domains and freely experiment with its implications