VP-Expert explained

VP-Expert
Released:	1987
Latest Release Version:	2.0
Latest Release Date:	2002
Operating System:	MS-DOS
License:	Proprietary
Genre:	Expert System Development Tool

VP-Expert is an artificial intelligence development tool that gained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. Published by Paperback Software, VP-Expert was designed to facilitate the creation of rule-based expert systems, primarily for applications in business and industry.^{[1] [2]} VP-Expert was created by Brian Sawyer.^[3]

VP-Expert quickly gained market share in the expert system development tool sector, particularly in academic and small to medium-sized business environments. By 1990, it had become the best-selling expert system shell, with 120,000 copies sold worldwide^[4] and site licenses at DuPont, Kodak, and the Wharton School of Business.

Background

VP-Expert emerged during a period of significant activity surrounding artificial intelligence, particularly expert systems. Expert systems aimed to capture and replicate human expertise in specific domains, enabling computers to solve problems, make decisions, and provide advice in a manner similar to human experts. This period saw the development of various expert system shells, software tools designed to facilitate the creation of expert systems without requiring extensive programming knowledge.^[5]

The appeal of VP-Expert lay in its relative ease of use and affordability. It offered a user-friendly interface and a rule-based approach that was intuitive for many users, particularly those with a background in business or logic.

Features

VP-Expert incorporated several features that supported the development and deployment of expert systems:^[6]

• Rule-Based Reasoning: VP-Expert utilized a rule-based inference engine to process knowledge represented as IF-THEN rules.^[6]
• Backward Chaining: The system primarily employed backward chaining, a goal-driven reasoning strategy, to deduce conclusions or solutions based on the given facts and rules.^[6]
• User Interface: VP-Expert offered a user-friendly interface for knowledge acquisition, simplifying the process of defining rules, facts, and goals.^[7]
• Explanation Facility: The system was capable of providing explanations for its reasoning, enhancing user understanding of how conclusions were reached.^[4]

Applications

VP-Expert found applications across various domains,^{[8] [9] [10]} including:

Engineering and Aviation:

• Environmental Analysis: Researchers used VP-Expert to develop a knowledge-based system for analyzing the impact of particulate matter air pollution on human health.^[11]
• Engineering Design: VP-Expert was utilized in the creation of a prototype expert system to assist in fishway design.^[12]
• Aviation Management: The tool was employed to develop an expert system aimed at maximizing airport capacity while adhering to noise-mitigation plans.^[13]

Business and Finance:^[14]

• Loan Approval: Banks and financial institutions utilized VP-Expert to build expert systems for evaluating loan applications. These systems assessed creditworthiness, analyzed financial statements, and determined loan eligibility based on predefined rules and risk factors, streamlining the loan approval process. ^[15]
• Investment Portfolio Management: VP-Expert was used to develop systems that provided investment advice based on market trends, economic indicators, and investor preferences. These systems helped users make informed investment decisions and manage their portfolios effectively. ^[16]
• Fraud Detection: VP-Expert was employed in the financial sector to develop systems for detecting fraudulent activities like credit card fraud and insurance claims fraud. These systems analyzed transaction patterns and identified anomalies, helping prevent financial losses. ^[17]

Healthcare:

• Medical Diagnosis: Although not as widely used as specialized medical expert systems, VP-Expert was explored for developing diagnostic support tools. These systems could analyze patient symptoms, medical history, and test results to assist physicians in identifying potential illnesses and recommending treatment options. ^[18]
• Nursing Care: VP-Expert was used to create systems that provided guidance to nurses on patient care, such as determining appropriate medication dosages, managing wound care, and monitoring vital signs. These systems helped standardize care and improve patient outcomes. ^[19]

Knowledge-Based Applications Developed with VP-Expert

Application	Creator / Published At	Link
Database Design Advisor	IEEE	Database Design Aid
Voltage and VAr Control in Power Transmission	IEEE	Voltage and VAr Control
DISPO Advisor for Psychiatric Disposition	PubMed	DISPO Advisor
Submarine Shipboard Maintenance	Wikimedia Commons	Shipboard Maintenance
Expert Systems and the Arts	IEEE	Expert Systems and the Arts
Nursing Diagnosis Expert System	E-HIR	Nursing Diagnosis
Nephrolithiasis Medical Expert System	Semantic Scholar	Nephrolithiasis Diagnosis
Water Quality Expert System	EPA	Water Quality
Fishway Design Expert System	Springer	Fishway Design
Soil Moisture Irrigation Control	AGRIS	Soil Moisture Control
Airport Capacity Expert System	Transportation Research Board	Airport Capacity
Feng Shui Knowledge for Design	Newcastle University	Feng Shui Design
Metal Powder Selection	ResearchGate	Metal Powder Selection
Asthma Diagnosis	GitHub	Asthma Diagnosis
Particulate Matter Analysis	ResearchGate	Particulate Matter Analysis
Diabetes in Dogs	GitHub	Diabetes in Dogs
Water Quality Modeling	ScienceDirect	Water Quality Modeling
PCB Plant Design	ScienceDirect	PCB Plant Design
Transfer Pricing Expert System	ScienceDirect	Transfer Pricing
Energy Demand Forecasting	ScienceDirect	Energy Forecasting
Industrial Roof Design Optimization	ScienceDirect	Roof Design Optimization
Flow Measurement Method Selection	ScienceDirect	Flow Measurement
Gravity Seawalls Design	ScienceDirect	Seawalls Design
Chromatographic Retention Prediction	ScienceDirect	Chromatographic Retention
Emergency Alarm Analysis in Nuclear Reactors	ScienceDirect	Emergency Alarm Analysis
River Flow Routing	ScienceDirect	River Flow Routing
NASA Fault Isolation	ScienceDirect	NASA Fault Isolation
Ball Bearing Design	ScienceDirect	Ball Bearing Design
Federal Sentencing Analysis	Santa Clara Law	Federal Sentencing Analysis
Document Delivery Expert System	Taylor & Francis	Document Delivery
Aviation Squadron Scheduling	CORE	Squadron Scheduling
Injection Molding Expert System	NJIT	Injection Molding
Nuclear Safety Expert System	IAEA	Nuclear Safety
Microcytic Anemia Diagnosis	PubMed	Microcytic Anemia Diagnosis
Gastrointestinal Disease Diagnosis	ResearchGate	GI Disease Diagnosis
Blood Cancer Treatment Suggestion	Iranian JHA	Blood Cancer Treatment
Navy Stock Points Management	Naval Postgraduate School	Navy Stock Points Management
Neural network and genetic algorithm for the design optimization of industrial roofs	ScienceDirect	Design of Industrial Roofs
Dessert Topping Selection	ScienceDirect	Dessert Topping Selection
Legal Decision Making	Elsevier	Legal Decision Making
Predicting the Performance of Concrete Structures	Springer	Evaluation Performance of Concrete Structures
Labor Progress Evaluation	NJIT	Labor Progress

Limitations

While VP-Expert offered certain advantages, it also had limitations:

• Scalability: Its rule-based approach could become challenging to manage for large and complex knowledge bases.^[4]
• Knowledge Acquisition Bottleneck: The process of eliciting and encoding knowledge from experts could be time-consuming and difficult. ^[4]

Notes and References

1. Low Cost VP-Expert Shows what Expert Systems can do. InfoWorld. 23 March 1987 .
2. VP-Expert is Still One of the Best Shells. InfoWorld. 23 March 1992 .
3. Lytras. M. A.. Konstantinos. E. A.. Spanos. G. N.. A Knowledge Management Scenario to Support Knowledge Applications Development in Small and Medium Enterprises. Journal of Knowledge Management. 2002.
4. Durkin, John (1994). Expert Systems: Design and Development. Macmillan Publishing Company. ISBN 0-02-330510-0.
5. Book: VP-Expert: A Knowledge-Based System for Plant Troubleshooting. Sawyer. Brian. Moose. Ann. Shafer. Dan. Paperback Software International. 1987. 978-0-87142-028-2.
6. Liebowitz, Jay (1990). Expert Systems: The User Interface. In Proceedings of the 3rd Annual Rocky Mountain Conference on Artificial Intelligence (RMCAI '90), pp. 161-169. Denver, CO.
7. Durkin, John (1994). Expert Systems: Design and Development. Macmillan Publishing Company. ISBN 0-02-330510-0.
8. Web site: Expert systems in air traffic management . John B. O'Connor . Santa Clara High Technology Law Journal . 2023-09-02.
9. Web site: An expert system for aviation squadron flight scheduling . Chu . Quentin . 1991 . CORE . 2023-09-02.
10. Web site: Developing an Ontology-Based Knowledge Management System to Support Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing . Park . Sun . 2013 . NOVA . 2023-09-02.
11. Oprea . Mihaela. Development of a knowledge based system for analyzing particulate matter air pollution effects on human health. Environmental Engineering and Management Journal. 16. 3. 2017. 669–676. 10.30638/eemj.2017.068.
12. A prototype expert system for fishway design. Springer. 1992. 10.1007/BF00406956. Bender. Michael J.. Katopodis. Chris. Simonovic. Slobodan P.. 23. 1–3. 115–127. 24227094. 1992EMnAs..23..115B.
13. Use of a Knowledge-Based Expert System to Maximize Airport Capacity in Harmony with Noise-Mitigation Plans. Transportation Research Record.
14. Book: Harmon . Paul . Sawyer . Brian . Creating Expert Systems for Business and Industry . John Wiley & Sons . 1990 . 0471614963.
15. Harmon . Paul . King . David . Expert Systems: Artificial Intelligence in Business . John Wiley & Sons . 1985 . 0471815543 .
16. Hayes-Roth . Frederick . Waterman . Donald A. . Lenat . Douglas B. . Building Expert Systems . Addison-Wesley . 1983 . 978-0201106862 .
17. Bigus . Joseph P. . Data Mining with Neural Networks: Solving Business Problems from Application Development to Decision Making . McGraw-Hill . 1996 .
18. Buchanan . Bruce G. . Shortliffe . Edward H. . Rule-Based Expert Systems: The MYCIN Experiments of the Stanford Heuristic Programming Project . Addison-Wesley . 1984 . 978-0201101737 .
19. Graves . Judith R. . Corcoran . Sheila . The Study of Nursing Informatics . Image: Journal of Nursing Scholarship . 24 . 4 . 227–233 . 1992 . 10.1111/j.1547-5069.1992.tb00689.x .