Editing Expert system (section)

=== Early development ===
Soon after the dawn of modern computers in the late 1940s and early 1950s, researchers started realizing the immense potential these machines had for modern society. One of the first challenges was to make such machines able to “think” like humans – in particular, making these machines able to make important decisions the way humans do. The medical–healthcare field presented the tantalizing challenge of enabling these machines to make medical diagnostic decisions.<ref name="CADsurvey">{{cite journal |vauthors=Yanase J, Triantaphyllou E |title=A Systematic Survey of Computer-Aided Diagnosis in Medicine: Past and Present Developments |journal=Expert Systems with Applications |volume=138 |pages=112821 |date=2019 |doi=10.1016/j.eswa.2019.112821 |s2cid=199019309}}</ref>

Thus, in the late 1950s, right after the information age had fully arrived, researchers started experimenting with the prospect of using computer technology to emulate human decision making. For example, biomedical researchers started creating computer-aided systems for diagnostic applications in medicine and biology. These early diagnostic systems used patients’ symptoms and laboratory test results as inputs to generate a diagnostic outcome.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Ledley RS, and Lusted LB |title=Reasoning foundations of medical diagnosis |journal=Science |date=1959 |volume=130 |issue=3366 |pages=9–21 |doi=10.1126/science.130.3366.9 |pmid=13668531 |bibcode=1959Sci...130....9L}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Weiss SM, Kulikowski CA, Amarel S, Safir A |title=A model-based method for computer-aided medical decision-making |journal=Artificial Intelligence |date=1978 |volume=11 |issue=1–2 |pages=145–172 |doi=10.1016/0004-3702(78)90015-2 |citeseerx=10.1.1.464.3183}}</ref>
These systems were often described as the early forms of expert systems. However, researchers realized that there were significant limits when using traditional methods such as flow charts,<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Schwartz WB |date=1970 |title=Medicine and the computer: the promise and problems of change |journal=New England Journal of Medicine |volume=283 |issue=23 |pages=1257–1264 |doi=10.1056/NEJM197012032832305 |pmid=4920342}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Bleich HL |date=1972 |title=Computer-based consultation: Electrolyte and acid-base disorders |journal=The American Journal of Medicine |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=285–291 |doi=10.1016/0002-9343(72)90170-2 |pmid=4559984}}</ref> statistical pattern matching,<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Rosati RA, McNeer JF, Starmer CF, Mittler BS, Morris JJ, and Wallace AG |date=1975 |title=A new information system for medical practice |journal=Archives of Internal Medicine |volume=135 |issue=8 |pages=1017–1024 |doi=10.1001/archinte.1975.00330080019003 |pmid=1156062}}</ref> or probability theory.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Gorry GA, Kassirer JP, Essig A, and Schwartz WB |date=1973 |title=Decision analysis as the basis for computer-aided management of acute renal failure |journal=The American Journal of Medicine |volume=55 |issue=4 |pages=473–484 |doi=10.1016/0002-9343(73)90204-0 |pmid=4582702 |s2cid=17448496}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Szolovits P, Patil RS, and Schwartz WB |date=1988 |title=Artificial intelligence in medical diagnosis |journal=Annals of Internal Medicine |volume=108 |issue=1 |pages=80–87 |doi=10.7326/0003-4819-108-1-80 |pmid=3276267 |s2cid=46410202}}</ref>