VP-Expert

Last updated
VP-Expert
Original author Brian Sawyer
Developer Paperback Software
Initial release1987 
Stable release
  / 1993
Operating system MS-DOS
Type Expert System Development Tool
License Proprietary 

VP-Expert is an artificial intelligence development tool that gained popularity in the late 1980s and early 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] It was the best-selling expert-system software for microcomputers in the late 1980s.

Contents

History

VP-Expert was created by Brian Sawyer and published by Paperback Software in 1987. [3] VP-Expert was widely adopted during the late 1980s. By April 1989, InfoWorld described it as "the best-selling expert-system software for personal computers." [4]

In June 1991, ownership of VP-Expert transferred from Paperback Software to WordTech Systems, Inc. [5] following Paperback Software’s liquidation after a legal dispute with Lotus Development Corporation regarding its VP-Planner spreadsheet. [6] VP-Expert continued to receive positive reviews with InfoWorld stating in 1992 "for automatically creating simple expert systems and being able to edit them into more sophisticated applications, hardly a better product exists than VP-Expert". [7]

Features

VP-Expert used an inference engine based on backward chaining to reach conclusions through English-like if/then rules. It operated through a text interface and included an explanation facility that showed the reasoning steps used to justify its conclusions. [8]

Applications

VP-Expert found applications across various domains. In environmental analysis, researchers used VP-Expert to develop a knowledge-based system for analyzing the impact of particulate matter air pollution on human health. [9] In engineering design, VP-Expert was utilized in the creation of a prototype expert system to assist in fishway design. [10] In aviation management, the tool was employed to develop an expert system aimed at maximizing airport capacity while adhering to noise-mitigation plans. [11]

Limitations

While VP-Expert offered certain advantages, it also had limitations. Its rule-based approach could become challenging to manage for large and complex knowledge bases, [8] and the process of eliciting and encoding knowledge from experts could be time-consuming and difficult. [8]

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. ↑ Vaccaro, J. M. (1990). "Personal computer (PC) thermal analyzer". Proceedings of the 28th ACM/IEEE Design Automation Conference. Association for Computing Machinery. p. 770. doi: 10.1145/98894.98928 . "… an expert system shell (i.e. VP Expert: Developed by Brian Sawyer, Editor portion by Idea Ware Inc., Published by Paperback Software International, 1987)."
  4. ↑ "PC Expert Systems Mature". InfoWorld. 24 April 1989. p. 41. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
  5. ↑ "Close of Business". InfoWorld. July 8, 1991. p. 104.
  6. ↑ Gantz, John (June 19, 1989). "AI Might Find an Alternate Life as a Programming Language". InfoWorld. p. 46.
  7. ↑ Frayer, Alan (March 23, 1992). "VP-Expert Is Still One of the Best Shells". InfoWorld . pp. 94–96. ProQuest   194265573.
  8. 1 2 3 John Durkin (1994). Expert Systems: Design and Development. Macmillan Publishing Company. ISBN   0023309709.
  9. ↑ Oprea, Mihaela (2017). "Development of a knowledge based system for analyzing particulate matter air pollution effects on human health". Environmental Engineering and Management Journal. 16 (3): 669–676. Bibcode:2017EEMJ...16..669O. doi: 10.30638/eemj.2017.068 .
  10. ↑ Bender, Michael J.; Katopodis, Chris; Simonovic, Slobodan P. (1992). "A prototype expert system for fishway design" . Springer. 23 (1–3): 115–127. Bibcode:1992EMnAs..23..115B. doi:10.1007/BF00406956.
  11. ↑ "Use of a Knowledge-Based Expert System to Maximize Airport Capacity in Harmony with Noise-Mitigation Plans" (PDF). Transportation Research Record.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.