ve or toll free numbers.An additional technology that has sprung from AI research and is finding a new home on the web, is rule-based expert systems. These systems, unlike collaborative filtering, typically use Boolean logic to process input from an individual user and employs stored rules to generate a prediction or suggestion. A prime example of this usage is the Office Assistant which is included with Microsofts Office 97 software package. This assistant is extremely useful for the individual who is unfamiliar with the software package. If the user seems to be floundering around looking for a way to accomplish a task, the assistant will attempt to interpret the desires of the user by looking at what he as been doing and then tries to make an educated guess as to what he wants to do. Then the assistant will display a help menu to guide the user through the desired course of action. AI needs many ideas that have, up until now, been studied only by philosophers. This is because a robot or truly AI system, if it is to have human level intelligence and ability to learn from its experience, needs a general world view in which to organize facts. Others have pointed this out when addressing the necessity of broadening the professional constituency of AI and reexamining its fundamental assumptions about human nature. One of the first successful applications of artificial intelligence in a business setting was the Authorizers Assistant, developed for American Express. The system allows the approval of most transactions without human intervention. Summarized in the system are a number of rules that relate to the approval of purchases. The system uses those rules and the unique profile that users establish by their pattern of purchases to ensure that the purchase is appropriate.Perhaps the biggest return on AI is potentially on Wall Street. Substantial attention has been given to the development of automated trading systems, integra...
