Recommending solutions with an expert system
First Claim
1. A method, executed on a computing device, for using an expert system to recommend a customized solution for a customer, the method comprising:
- providing in the expert system a set of scenarios each of which includes default facts and is associated with a detailed rule base that when applied in isolation to the default facts fully determines a prototype solution;
selecting a particular scenario from the set of scenarios based at least on user input, wherein the selecting comprises;
posing at least one specific question to a user who is a representative of the customer and obtaining supplied facts from answers to the questions;
in a context of the supplied facts, inferring facts from parseable input supplied to the expert system;
determining a subset of the scenarios from the inferred facts and the supplied facts; and
enabling the user to select a particular scenario from the subset of the scenarios;
generating a customized solution by applying the detailed rule base associated with the particular scenario to a set of candidate facts that comprises the inferred facts, the supplied facts, and assumed facts, where the assumed facts are any default facts of the particular scenario that complement and do not conflict with the inferred facts and the supplied factsiteratively refining the customized solution; and
presenting the user with the customized solution and with a log of the parseable input supplied to the expert system; and
indicating to the user which of the candidate facts are most significant in determining the customized solution.
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Abstract
An expert system is used to recommend a customized solution for a customer. The expert system includes a set of scenarios each of which includes default facts and is associated with a detailed rule base that when applied in isolation to the default facts fully determines a prototype solution. A particular scenario is selected from the set based at least on user input. A customized solution is generated by applying the detailed rule base associated with the particular scenario to facts based at least on the user input and any default facts of the particular scenario that complement and do not conflict with the facts that are based at least on the user input. The customized solution is iteratively refined.
16 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method, executed on a computing device, for using an expert system to recommend a customized solution for a customer, the method comprising:
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providing in the expert system a set of scenarios each of which includes default facts and is associated with a detailed rule base that when applied in isolation to the default facts fully determines a prototype solution; selecting a particular scenario from the set of scenarios based at least on user input, wherein the selecting comprises; posing at least one specific question to a user who is a representative of the customer and obtaining supplied facts from answers to the questions; in a context of the supplied facts, inferring facts from parseable input supplied to the expert system; determining a subset of the scenarios from the inferred facts and the supplied facts; and enabling the user to select a particular scenario from the subset of the scenarios; generating a customized solution by applying the detailed rule base associated with the particular scenario to a set of candidate facts that comprises the inferred facts, the supplied facts, and assumed facts, where the assumed facts are any default facts of the particular scenario that complement and do not conflict with the inferred facts and the supplied facts iteratively refining the customized solution; and presenting the user with the customized solution and with a log of the parseable input supplied to the expert system; and indicating to the user which of the candidate facts are most significant in determining the customized solution. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A computer program product comprising a computer useable storage medium having computer readable executable modules comprising:
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a set of scenarios each of which includes default facts and is associated with a detailed rule base that when applied in isolation to the default facts fully determines a prototype solution; a scenario selection module to select a particular scenario from the set of scenarios based at least on user input, using a scenario selection rule base, wherein the scenario selection rule base comprises specific questions to be posed to a user, and wherein supplied facts are obtained from answers to the specific questions; a parsing module to parse parseable input in the context of the supplied facts and infer therefrom inferred facts; and a solution refinement module to generate a customized solution by applying the detailed rule base associated with the particular scenario to a set of candidate facts that comprises the inferred facts, the supplied facts, and assumed facts, where the assumed facts are any default facts of the particular scenario that complement and do not conflict with the inferred facts and the supplied facts and to iteratively refine the customized solution; and presenting the user with the customized solution and with a log of parseable input supplied to the expert system; and indicating to the user which of the candidate facts are most significant in determining the customized solution. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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13. An expert system for recommending a customized solution for a customer, the expert system comprising:
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at least one computing device including; a set of scenarios each of which includes default facts and is associated with a detailed rule base that when applied in isolation to the default facts fully determines a prototype solution; a system for selecting a particular scenario from the set of scenarios based at least on user input, wherein the selecting comprises; posing at least one specific question to a user who is a representative of the customer and obtaining supplied facts from answers to the questions; in a context of the supplied facts, inferring facts from parseable input supplied to the expert system; determining a subset of the scenarios from the inferred facts and the supplied facts; and enabling the user to select a particular scenario from the subset of the scenarios; a system for generating a customized solution by applying the detailed rule base associated with the particular scenario to a set of candidate facts that comprises the inferred facts, the supplied facts, and assumed facts, where the assumed facts are any default facts of the particular scenario that complement and do not conflict with the inferred facts and the supplied facts a system for iteratively refining the customized solution; and presenting the user with the customized solution and with a log of the parseable input supplied to the expert system; and indicating to the user which of the candidate facts are most significant in determining the customized solution.
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14. A method, executed on a computing device, for deploying an application for recommending a customized solution, using an expert system, for a customer, comprising:
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providing a computer infrastructure being operable to; provide in the expert system a set of scenarios each of which includes default facts and is associated with a detailed rule base that when applied in isolation to the default facts fully determines a prototype solution; select a particular scenario from the set of scenarios based at least on user input, wherein the selecting comprises; posing at least one specific question to a user who is a representative of the customer and obtaining supplied facts from answers to the questions; in a context of the supplied facts, inferring facts from parseable input supplied to the expert system; determining a subset of the scenarios from the inferred facts and the supplied facts; and enabling the user to select a particular scenario from the subset of the scenarios; generate a customized solution by applying the detailed rule base associated with the particular scenario to a set of candidate facts that comprises the inferred facts, the supplied facts, and assumed facts, where the assumed facts are any default facts of the particular scenario that complement and do not conflict with the inferred facts and the supplied facts iteratively refine the customized solution; presenting the user with the customized solution and with a log of the parseable input supplied to the expert system; and indicating to the user which of the candidate facts are most significant in determining the customized solution.
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Specification