The Gazette 1988

• GAZETTE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1988

experts adding their input and ex- isting experts refining theirs in the light of continuing experience the system could become uniquely valuable. In Mr. Niblett's opinion there are no true expert systems at present although they may evolve from the work being carried on by individuals at the moment. When fully developed they might be us- ed as arbitrators in disputes and might even replace the judiciary! Nicolas Bellord then addressed the seminar and described some of his pioneering development work in this area. He explained that the systems currently under develop- ment only addressed one problem at a time and that the problems we face in practice involve a number of interlocking problems. The answer is to design a system where one defines a goal and the system advises on the best means of reaching the goal. Furthermore, it is still up to the practitioner to separate the grain of truth from the chaff of his instructions and no compu t er s y s t em has been designed which can do this. He concluded (inter alia) that if some- body had a truly expert system at the present it would be in their interest to keep it a closely guarded secret. Ms. Sharon Walsh then gave us the bene f it of her p r ac t i cal experience in this area. She concluded that because of the degree of personal interpretation required in the practice of law com- bined with local differences in practice, particularly in the area of litigation, that if it is not actually impossible to write a useful expert system, it is so difficult and time consuming as to be not worth while. Having disclosed the fact that he had vested interest, insofar as since being asked to address the seminar he had left a large accountancy practice and joined a company selling skeleton pro- grammes for use in the cons- truction of expert systems, Nick Morris then explained some of the Practical steps to be taken in setting U p a very small expert system dealing with a discreet area of law. He highlighted the potential advantages of being able to delegate work to junior personnel who would have access, through the computer, to the reasoning Powers exhibited by their more ex- perienced colleagues, combined

with the fact that an 'audit train' showing each step taken by the expert system in coming to a particular conclusion was available for monitoring the work of junior personnel. Patrick Fitzgibbon explained the difficulties he had faced when he set about designing a support package for conveyancing and how similar difficulties would arise in the design of expert systems. He suggested one means of avoiding these problems by carefully s t r uc t u r i ng the sys t em but observed that in legal practice someone would always come up with a problem so impossible that it would fox the system. Rory O'Donnell, whose firm is using a conveyancing support system, explained how they had evolved in the use of technology to that stage. He highlighted some of the difficulties involved in using support systems and went on to conclude that expert systems would have to be considerably more developed and have more obvious direct application before he would consider committing the necessary investment of time and money to developing or using one. Following a series of short submissions from the floor the participants formed small groups, each group being joined by a committee member and a speaker in order to formulate further questions and to continue dis- cussion. Mr. Frank Lanigan who, as Chairman of the Technology Com- mittee, had acted as Chairman of the seminar then summed up and was asked by Mr. Michael Houlihan to address the specific questions which had been raised by the brochure for the seminar. The general feeling seemed to be that expert sys t ems were very interesting but t hat t he practicalities of their introduction and development were such as to require great cau t i on. The Chairman went on to explain that an exh i b i t i on of document production, support and expert systems was being held con- currently with the seminar and that these were now available for participants to test their theories. In conclusion, he set the tone for the remainder of the evening by explaining that the management

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had requested that those who wished to order fine wines should do so early so that they could be arranged for t hem to be appropriately chilled or chambre'd. Communications On Sunday morning, a series of short lectures was organised about communications between com- puter systems. Telecom Eireann had arranged for six additional tele- phone lines to be laid on to Tulfarris House and this, the chairman explained was one of the prime reasons why it had been chosen as a venue. He said that if Telecom Eireann were able to organise tele- phone lines of reasonable quality to Tulfarris House at Poulaphouca, they cou ld organise t hem anywhere in the country! Electronic Mail Noel Clarke from Telecom Eireann explained to us the mysteries of packet switching and electronic mail. He was followed by Nicolas Bellord who set before us some fascinating statistics concerning the me t hods of despa t ch of messages and documents from so l i c i t o r s' o f f i ces wh i ch had resulted from a survey carried out in England a couple of years ago.

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