Integrating Artificial Intelligence and Graphics in a Tool for Microfossil Identification for Use in the Petroleum Industry

This chapter describes an expert system for the identification of micro-fossils. This graphic expert system shell was designed to allow users to enter information about a fossil in pictorial form: On the basis of this information, the system selects a best-match set of fossils. By computerizing knowledge elicitation and entry into the system, it was possible to reduce development time and cost. As a result, the system is cost effective as well as powerful, flexible, and easy to use. The system described here, called Vides (visual identification expert system), was developed to support the process of identifying microfos-sils, including those of Phylum Conodonta (Higgins and Austin 1985) and Phylum Foraminifera (Haynes 1981). Microfossils are the remains of small animals that lived hundreds of millions of years ago and are found in the rock layers during the drilling process of oil exploration.