Unit 3: Expert systems - Practice Quiz

1 What is an expert system?

2 What is the main purpose of an expert system?

3 Expert systems are usually designed for which type of problem?

4 Which human ability does an expert system mainly attempt to simulate?

5 Which component stores facts and rules in an expert system?

6 Which component applies rules to known facts?

7 What is the role of the user interface in an expert system?

8 Which component may explain how a conclusion was reached?

9 Which sequence correctly names common expert system components?

10 What type of information is commonly found in a knowledge base?

11 In a rule such as "If a machine is overheating, then check its cooling system," what is overheating?

12 In an expert system rule, what is usually produced when the condition is satisfied?

13 What does the inference engine use to reach a decision?

14 What is a rule-based knowledge base mainly made of?

15 Why is a user interface important in an expert system?

16 What can a user do through an expert system's interface?

17 A well-designed user interface should be what?

18 Which is an advantage of expert systems?

19 Which is a possible advantage of an expert system?

20 Which is a disadvantage of expert systems?

21 A medical diagnosis program asks about symptoms and recommends possible diseases using rules created by doctors. Which feature most clearly makes it an expert system?

22 A company uses software that recommends likely causes of network failures by applying rules written by network engineers. What is the main role of the software?

23 Which situation is most suitable for developing an expert system?

24 In an expert system, which component is primarily responsible for storing facts and rules about the problem domain?

25 A user enters symptoms, and the system combines them with stored rules to reach a diagnosis. Which component performs this reasoning?

26 A system explains that a machine was classified as faulty because sensors indicated high temperature and low pressure. Which architectural component provides this explanation?

27 A knowledge engineer interviews specialists and converts their experience into formal rules. Which part of the architecture supports this activity?

28 During a consultation, the system temporarily stores the user's current symptoms and intermediate conclusions. Where are these items usually kept?

29 Consider the rules: If a device is overheated, then its fan may be faulty. If the fan is faulty, then cooling is reduced. The system knows that the device is overheated. What can forward chaining derive?

30 A system has the rule: If a loan applicant has a high income and a low debt ratio, then the application is low risk. Which reasoning approach starts with the goal "the application is low risk" and checks supporting facts?

31 A rule-based system gives a wrong recommendation because one stored rule is outdated. Which change would most directly address the problem?

32 A diagnostic system has two rules that produce conflicting conclusions from the same evidence. Which inference-engine feature is most useful?

33 Why is separating the knowledge base from the inference engine useful when maintaining an expert system?

34 Why should an expert-system user interface ask questions in clear, nontechnical language?

35 A user rejects a recommendation because the system gives no reason for it. Which interface feature would best improve user confidence?

36 In a troubleshooting expert system, a user cannot answer a question with certainty. Which interface design would be most helpful?

37 A hospital uses an expert system to provide consistent initial screening at any time of day. Which advantage is illustrated?

38 A factory expert system continues recommending an unsafe procedure because its rules were not updated after equipment changes. Which disadvantage does this show?

39 Why might an expert system fail when faced with a rare situation not represented by its rules?

40 A business plans to deploy an expert system but has very few documented procedures and cannot obtain specialists for interviews. What is the main obstacle?

41 A diagnostic program performs well on diseases represented in its knowledge base but cannot justify conclusions outside that domain. Which property most strongly supports classifying it as an expert system?

42 Which scenario most clearly distinguishes an expert system from a conventional information-retrieval system?

43 An organization wants software that applies a tax specialist's rules consistently, explains each recommendation, and identifies missing evidence. Which capability is least essential to the system's identity as an expert system?

44 A knowledge engineer updates production rules while the system is running. Which architectural separation most directly reduces the risk that this change alters the user dialogue logic?

45 In a rule-based architecture, the inference engine has selected a rule whose antecedent is not yet supported. Which component should normally determine how the missing fact is obtained?

46 A system must explain both why it asked a question and how it reached a recommendation. Which architectural feature is most important for supporting both explanations?

47 A deployed expert system must accept sensor readings, reason with symbolic rules, and retain a history of consultations for auditing. Which architecture best satisfies these requirements?

48 Given the rules A → B, B ∧ C → D, and D → E, with facts A and C, which reasoning behavior is required to derive E?

49 A goal-driven inference engine is asked whether a machine is unsafe. The only rule concluding unsafe requires overheating and low coolant. What should the engine do first?

50 Two applicable rules derive contradictory conclusions, and neither rule has a higher priority. Which response is most defensible in a safety-critical expert system?

51 A rule base contains rain → wet_ground and wet_ground → rain. If wet_ground is observed, which conclusion is logically justified under ordinary forward chaining?

52 An expert system concludes that a component should be replaced because a rule fired using a fact supplied by a low-confidence sensor. Which improvement best addresses this issue without deleting the rule?

53 A consultation asks users for twenty technical measurements before revealing why they matter. Which interface redesign most improves reasoning quality as well as usability?

54 A user rejects a recommendation because the system's terminology differs from the organization's standard vocabulary. Which interface capability most directly prevents this failure?

55 A user cannot provide a fact requested by the inference engine. Which interface behavior best preserves the integrity of the consultation?

56 Which combination best captures a major advantage and a corresponding limitation of expert systems?

57 A company uses an expert system to standardize maintenance decisions across shifts. Which risk most threatens the claimed benefit of consistency?

58 An expert system performs accurately in routine cases but fails when several unusual symptoms occur together. What limitation does this most directly illustrate?

59 Why can knowledge acquisition become a greater long-term cost than initially implementing the inference engine?

60 A hospital considers using an expert system for triage but requires accountability for every recommendation. Which feature most strengthens the case for adoption while reducing a key risk?