Conference reports. 18th Annual International Conference Expert Systems ES98

Citation

Hutton, D.M. (1999), "Conference reports. 18th Annual International Conference Expert Systems ES98", Kybernetes, Vol. 28 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/k.1999.06728bab.007

Conference reports. 18th Annual International Conference Expert Systems ES98

Conference reports

18th Annual International Conference ­ Expert Systems ­ ES98

The 18th International Conference of the British Computer Society Specialist Group on Expert Systems (BCS SGES) was arranged for 14-16 December 1998 at Peterhouse, Cambridge, UK.

The technical "keynote address" and the "application keynote address" were given by Professor David Goldberg (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA) and Mr Robert Taylor (KPMG, UK), respectively.

ES98 was the 18th International Conference of BCS SGES. Its principal aims were set at reviewing recent technical advances in knowledge-based systems technology and to show how this leading edge technology has been applied to solve business problems. It was, therefore, of great interest to those in the cybernetics field of research who have concentrated on expert systems and their applications.

The Conference was organised into a number of parallel sessions on both technology and applications. Tutorials, which aimed at a greater depth of study, were held on four selected topics. An exhibition was also arranged of leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and software providers.

Although aimed at those who wish to update their knowledge of the field with news and views of recent developments it also provided an opportunity to understand how other groups are applying the technology and exchanging ideas. It was indeed a meeting place for the international knowledge-based systems and applied AI community. The social programme also helped to ensure that opportunities to meet fellow researchers and developers and to make new contacts were available. The scheduled tutorials were concerned with:

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  NeuroFuzzy ­ Using Neural Networks Combined with Fuzzy Logic in Financial Applications. Bill Edisbury: Npower Ltd, UK.

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  Knowledge Bases for Ill-structured Knowledge. Dr Andrew Basden, University of Salford, UK.

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  Putting Data Mining to Work. Alan Montgomery, Integral Solutions Ltd, UK.

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  Knowledge Asset Management: Identification of Problems and Selection of Appropriate AI Solutions. Ian Filby and Ann Macintosh, AIAI, University of Edinburgh, UK.

Of particular interest was the scheduled neurofuzzy tutorial which showed how neural networks combined with fuzzy logic could be used in financial applications. The presenter writes:

Fuzzy logic allows a computer user to specify problems in a natural way, using linguistic variables ("large", "small", "medium" etc.) and to provide decision support based on the expert knowledge which can be captured. Fuzzy logic enables the user to compute with words rather than numbers, simplifying decision making by considering all alternatives and advising the best possible answer. Fuzzy logic combined with neural networks (neurofuzzy) is now being used as a new and powerful tool in all sectors of commerce, particularly in financial services. This tutorial covers the advantages gained by the use of neural networks combined with fuzzy logic in a wide range of financial applications. There will be case studies taken from application and transaction fraud, attrition modelling, customer behaviour, branch/ATM location, risk and direct marketing, customer relationship management and others related to general applications in financial services. Practical advice will be given on the building of these systems. The business benefits and pitfalls will also be spelt out.

Mr Robert Taylor was the application keynote speaker. A summary of his address says that:

Knowledge management is currently attracting a great deal of interest in the business community. Organisations are increasingly coming to regard their knowledge as a key asset and resource. How it is supported and developed is seen as an issue of strategic importance. Meeting these needs requires interventions in four key dimensions: people, process, technology and content. Expert, or knowledge-based systems, as one of the few disciplines deeply engaged with the issues of knowledge, thinking and decision making, can potentially play an important role in knowledge management. Drawing on practical experience and original research, Robert Taylor, knowledge management specialist with consultants KPMG, charts the rise of the knowledge management phenomenon and illustrates the practical role that expert systems can play, and are already playing in this emerging field.

While in the technical keynote address, Professor Goldberg described his presentation as: The Race, the Hurdle and the Sweet Spot: Three Lessons from Genetic Algorithm Design for the Understanding of Human Innovation. Summarising his talk the organisers write that:

Genetic algorithms (GAs) can be, and have been, designed that solve hard problems, quickly, reliably, and accurately, and that competent GAs are a first-order model of certain processes of human innovation. David Goldberg's research focuses on the design, analysis, and application of genetic algorithms and other innovating machines. His book, Genetic Algorithms in Search, Optimization and Machine Learning (Addison-Wesley, 1989) is widely cited. His most recent book, Life Skills and Leadership for Engineers (McGraw-Hill, 1995) is being used in classrooms to acquaint engineering students and young engineers with some of the critical non-technical issues they will face on the job. A forthcoming monograph, "The Design of Innovation", expands on the themes of this talk.

Participants had the choice of attending the applications stream and the technical stream of sessions. Since they were held in parallel, the choice of sessions to attend was made extremely difficult. Perhaps if it was possible to double the length of the meeting attendees could go to the technical stream first and then follow these presentations with attendance at the applications sessions which so naturally follow on. Fortunately, we were told that the proceedings will be published by Springer-Verlag so that missed sessions in the parallel streaming can be obtained in text form. A "survey and review" session, however, brought both streams together.

Various awards were given, in particular for the "best-refereed application" paper and best refereed technical" paper: the former to I. Watson and D. Gardingen, and the latter to D. McSherry.

It is to be hoped that this annual event will continue since it is one of the few conferences that really does bring specialists in business and academia together at a level where they can interact.

D.M. Hutton