MISUNDERSTANDING BETWEEN KNOWLEDGE ENGINEERS AND DOMAIN EXPERTS - A REEVALUATION OF THE USE OF INDUCTION FOR MEDICAL EXPERT-SYSTEMS

The effectiveness of an induction algorithm for making decisions was i nvestigated using a complete set of diagnoses and corresponding outcom es for all possible distinct cases of thyroid disorders. Investigation of both diagnoses and outcomes followed a late discovery of a misunde rstanding between the knowledge engineers and the expert. The knowledg e engineers had erroneously equated the expert's terms 'diagnosis' and 'outcome'. Following this discovery, two previously reported induced expert systems were re-evaluated using the more appropriate 'outcomes' and were found to be correct for 79 and 70% of all cases. (C) 1997 El sevier Science Ireland Ltd.