Introducing ASK, A Simple Knowledgeable System

ASK, ~ ~ i m p l e K n o w l e d g e a b l e S y s t e m , i s a t o t a l s y s t e m f o r t h e s t r u c t u r i n g , m a n i p u l a t i o n and c o m m u n i c a t i o n o f i n f o r m a t i o n . I t i s a s i m p l e s y s t e m in t h e s e n s e t h a C i t s d e v e l o p m e n t c o n c e n t r a t e d on c l e a n e n g i n e e r i n g s o l u t i o n s t o w h a t c o u l d be d o n e now w i t h g o o d r e s p o n s e t i m e s . T h e u s e r i n t e r f a c e i s a l i m i t e d d i a l e c t o f E n g l i s h . In c o n t r a s t to e x p e r t s y s t e m s , i n w h i c h e x p e r t s b u i l d t h e k n o w l e d g e b a s e and u s e r s m a k e u s e o f t h i s e x p e r t k n o w l e d g e , ASK i s a i m e d a t t h e u s e r who w i s h e s t o c r e a t e , t e s t , m o d i f y , e x t e n d and make u s e o f h i s own k n o w l e d g e b a s e . I t i s a system for a research team, a management or military staff, or a business office. T h i s p a p e r i s d e s i g n e d t o g i v e you a f e e l f o r t h e g e n e r a l p e r f o r m a n c e of t h e ASK S y s t e m and o v e r v i e w o f i t s o p e r a t i o n a l c a p a b i l i t i e s . To Chin e n d , t h e m o v i e you s e e w i l l c o n t i n u e t h r o u g h o u t t h e t a l k . I ndeed , t h e t a l k i t s e l f i s a c o m m e n t a r y on t h i s b a c k g r o u n d mov i e . The mov i e i s bona f i d e and i n r e a l t i m e , i t i s o f t h e ASK S y s t e m i n a c t i o n . (Many o f t h e i l l u s t r a t i o n s f r o m t h e mov ie a r e r e p r o d u c e d i n t h e w r i t t e n p a p e r . ) I. ASK AS A DATABASE SYSTEM A. Examples o f ASK English To i n t r o d u c e you to ASK, we w i l l s t a r t o u t w i t h a f ew e x a m p l e s o f q u e r i e s o f a s i m p l e d a t a b a s e concerning ships. The uninitiated user may wish simply to ask: >How many ships are there? 7 >What is known about ships? some are in the following classes: Navy freighter old t a n k e r a l l have t he f o l l o w i n g a t t r i b u t e s : d e s t i n a t i o n home p o r t some have t h e f o l l o w i n g a t t r i b u t e s : ca rgo a l l have t he f o l l o w i n g number a t t r i b u t e s : age 17 some have t h e f o l l o w i n g number a t t r i b u t e s : speed l e n g t h beam > L i s t t h e d e s t i n a t i o n s and home p o r t o f e a c h s h i p , s h i p d e s t i n a t i o n home p o r t Ubu New York N a p l e s Tokyo --Morn 0 s l o Tokyo K i t t y h a w k Nap le s B o s t o n B o s t o n -