The Gazette 1988

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1988

GAZETTE

The debate on expert systems The debate on expert systems commenced on Saturday morning with a review by Ms Delia Venables of the English Law Society of the origins of expert systems and how they have developed from support and document production systems. Ms Venables dealt with some of the jargon particularly associated with expert systems including the terrifying 'knowledge cliff'! Bryan Niblett then proceeded to examine the present state of play in the de- velopment of expert systems and to give an insight into where he believes that the future lies. He foresees expert systems being developed on a co-operative basis by all of the interested parties and using as their base of knowledge one of the legal databases (e.g. Lexis). Mr. Niblett made the point that expert systems can only be as good as the experts who devise them and consequently if a number of experts participate then the system should end up wi th more expertise than each individual expert. With an evolving system over a period of time wi th new

rules upon which it is based. In this way it should be easier to test the correctness of the p r ecep ts used by t he designer. One may only however test the reasoning of t he s y s t em by wo r k i ng through a very large number of sample queries. In a tradi- tional system one ceuld not work out the basic rules ex- cept in a very simple system, (iii) An expert system may, in- deed should, come up wi th novel answers to problems (i.e. answers which were not anticipated by the designer) by the use of the system's own logic. A t r ad i t i onal system can only give an answer which has been pre- programmed as a response to a particular combination of factors by the designer. Ms. Delia Venables of the English Law Society. Ms Venables advises English Solicitors f i rms upon all aspects of technology and computers. Bryan Niblett, Barrister and Compu t er Sc i en t i s t. Mr. Niblett is Chairman of the Law Specialist Group and is a Fellow of t he British Computer Society. He is a former holder of the Chair of Computer Science in the University of Wales. Nicolas Bellord, Solicitor. Mr. Bellord was Secretary of the Society for Computers in Law from 1975 to 1984 and is a partner wi th Messrs. Witham Weld, Solicitors in London. He is the author of 'Computers for Lawyers' (Cambridge University Press, 1980) and co - au t hor of ' Compu t er Sc i ence and Law' and 'Intelligence in Legal Infor- mation Systems'. Both Mr. Bellord and Mr. Niblett have been UK representatives on the Committee of Experts on legal data processing of the Council of Europe. Nicolas Morris, Chartered Accountant. Mr. Morris is a member of the Technology Comm i t t ee of t he Law Society. Until recently he advised professional practices, 2. 3. 4. The Speakers 1.

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solicitors,

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compu t e r i sa t i on. He is engaged in developing an expe rt sys t em to assist companies in complying with the reporting requirements contained in the Companies (Amendment) Act, 1986 and has recently resigned from professional practice as an accountant in order to further his interest in expert systems. Ms. Sharon Walsh. Ms. Walsh is Systems Administrator with A. & L. Goodbody, Solicitors in Dublin. Mr. Fitzgibbon is a Solicitor and Partner in Pierce Fitzgibbon & Company, So l i c i t o rs of Listowel. Mr. Fitzgibbon has been involved in the develop- ment of an automated con- veyancing package but has ceased development of the system. Rory O'Donnell, Solicitor. Mr. O'Donnell has been involved in the development and imple- mentation of automated con- veyancing systems. Patrick Fitzgibbon.

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