Reasoning About Control: The Investigation of an Evidential Approach

Abstract

The cor nplexit .y o f the domains in which expert systems are exfWctrd to op<>rate re quires that they be capable of "reasoning" about t IH"ir :l<·tions. It ha s been argued th:-.t expert systems must reason fr n nr •' ridrnr ia/ info rmation - i.e., uncertain, incomplete, and occasionallv inarcuratc inf o rmation !LOW82aJ. As a consequence , a model for re' " '' ning a bo ut co ntr o l mu st d eal with several problems - being able to o rgani ze "c ontrol-related " evidential information that is generically dis ti!lrt and ·fr o m dis parate so urces , to overcome minor errors in the rv id •· nti:1l inform at ion need ed to reach a deci sion , and to explain the ar t inn s taken by the system. These are a few of some formidable control i"' ue s and problems that remain largely un so lved JBAH82J . Thus , w<· re port 0 11 a n investigation into how t.hese iss ues and problems can be :1d dr e,;se cl when th e problem of reasoning about system control is vi<·w ed as an <·vid c ntial process.