EXPERT-SYSTEMS - A SURVEY OF THEIR USE IN UK BUSINESS

A number of surveys have been carried out in the past ten years on the use of expert systems in business. This paper compares previous surve y findings with a new one undertaken in the Spring of 1994; it finds s ignificant differences in the level of use of expert systems. One thou sand companies across the UK were surveyed regarding their use of info rmation systems in general and expert systems in particular, and the r esults are discussed in this paper. A response rate of 22.5% showed th at 50 out of 214 organisations, use expert systems for a variety of ap plications, ranging from strategic to operational. The analysis identi fies users of expert systems by organisation size and industry sector. It also highlights their reasons for use. The paper concludes by iden tifying the perceived business benefits and the relative costs involve d with the purchase or development of an expert system, as identified by the organisations.