KM Tools: Capturing and Codifying Knowledge
Overview
This category of Knowledge Management Tools is predominated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) Systems. The objective of AI systems is to develop computer-based systems that can behave like humans, with the ability to learn languages, accomplish physical tasks, use a perceptual apparatus, and emulate human expertise and decision making. Although there are other tools and applications that could be considered to fall in the codification category, this list has been focused toward general-purpose applications on the market that employ AI technologies. More specifically, there are four major types of AI systems:
- Expert Systems – Knowledge intensive computer programs that capture the
expertise of a human in limited domains of knowledge. Includes rule-based
systems, decision trees and case-based reasoning systems.
- Neural Nets – Hardware and/or software that attempts to emulate the processing
patterns of the biological brain. These systems usually have "learning"
capabilities.
- Fuzzy Logic – Rule-based AI that tolerates imprecision by using nonspecific
terms called membership functions to solve problems.
- Genetic Algorithms – Problem-solving methods that promote the evolution of solutions to specified problems using the model of living organisms adapting to their environment.
Investigation of the AI software available on the market reveals that there are relatively few general-purpose applications available. For the most part, AI systems are so industry-specific that most of the applications tend to be tailored for extremely specific uses. For example, there are expert systems that help ranchers manage their cattle or case-based reasoning systems that help computer hardware companies troubleshoot calls for specific models. For the most part, it appears that unless a very narrowly focused application-specific software package already exists, companies outsource the development of customized AI systems that meet their specific needs. The general purpose AI packages listed here tend to require an extremely high degree of associated programming and modification in order to field a usable capability. In conclusion, in order to employ an AI system, a firm cannot expect to simply buy an application off the shelf. A high amount of investment of both dollars and expertise from both inside and outside the firm is normally required.
Review of KM Tools for Capturing and Codifying Knowledge
Use the menu below to select a review:
Acquired
Intelligence Inc.
Knowledge acquistion for expert systems and business rules. Acquired Intelligence
Inc. 's ACQUIRE® captures rule-based knowledge for integration into web-based
or other software applications. It's structured approach lets you build the
knowledge into your knowledge-based applications.
Acquired Intelligence Inc. 's Rapid Development System is a flexible and extendable, ready-to-use, web-based interface environment that is suitable for many ACQUIRE® applications.
Attar
Software
XPertRule® Knowledge Builder, Attar's graphical environment for developing
knowledge based applications or components: Business users, application developers
and knowledge engineers use XpertRule® KBS to capture the knowledge (business
rules, processes, experience, know-how) of an organization and create high
quality, automated solutions to complex, decision making problems.
Cycorp
The Cyc Knowledge Server is a very large, multi-contextual knowledge base
and inference engine developed by Cycorp. Cycorp's goal is to break the "software
brittleness bottleneck" once and for all by constructing a foundation
of basic "common sense" knowledge--a semantic substratum of terms,
rules, and relations--that will enable a variety of knowledge-intensive products
and services. Cyc is intended to provide a "deep" layer of understanding
that can be used by other programs to make them more flexible.
NeuroDimension
Inc.
Array of software applications that, when combined, allow experts to develop
and train a customized neural net system and load it with data.
Toadware
Technologies NetSegment©
A basic neural network application that must be programmed by experts
for the initial set of patterns. Then, the system may be improved (learn)
by being presented with additional sets of patterns and outcomes. The more
cases there are presented to the system, the better it will become.
Z
Solutions
The BackPack Neural Network System provides the power of neural networks in
an efficient, self-contained package. The system handles large datasets and
provides full pre-processing capabilities. Pathfinder provides all the neural
network modeling capability of BackPack in an easy to use program designed
explicitly for use with data in Microsoft Excel.
This section of the site was last updated on January 13, 2003