DECISION-SUPPORT SYSTEMS - SCOPE AND POTENTIAL

The paper addresses the scope of decision support systems starting fro m the three words, decision, support, and system, that make up the ter m. Based on a decision-theory point of view, the notion of decision an d related cognitive concepts are discussed, particularly in connection with the idea of supporting human decision makers in making decisions . The aspect of systems brings in automatic devices that assist the de cision maker on various levels of cognitive sophistication. This aspec t includes a connection to artificial intelligence whenever a high deg ree of sophistication is required. With a view to these connections wi th AI, the paper takes a model-oriented approach, aiming at an integra tion of the modelling necessities from decision theory, from human-mac hine interfaces, from application domains, and from system Eigen model s as the core of every advanced architecture in this field.