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A hybrid diagnostic-advisory system for small and medium-sized enterprises: A successful AI application

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Abstract

We describe a hybrid expert diagnosis-advisory system developed for small and medium enterprises. The Performance, Development, Growth (PDG) system is completely implemented and fully operational, and has been successfully used on real-world data from SMEs for several years. Although our system contains a great deal of the domain knowledge and expertise that is a hallmark of AI systems, it was not designed using the symbolic techniques traditionally used to implement such systems. We explain why this is so and discuss how the PDG system relates to expert systems, decision support systems, and general applications in AI. We also present an experimental evaluation of the system and identify developments currently under way and our plans for the future.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de mathématiques et d'informatique, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada, G9A 5H7

    Sylvain Delisle

  2. Département des sciences de la gestion, Institut de recherche sur les PME, Laboratoire de recherche sur la performance des entreprises, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada, G9A 5H7

    Josée St-Pierre

  3. School of Information Technology and Engineering, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1N 6N5

    Terry Copeck

Authors
  1. Sylvain Delisle
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  2. Josée St-Pierre
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  3. Terry Copeck
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Correspondence to Sylvain Delisle.

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Delisle, S., St-Pierre, J. & Copeck, T. A hybrid diagnostic-advisory system for small and medium-sized enterprises: A successful AI application. Appl Intell 24, 127–141 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10489-006-6934-z

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