Creating systems that contain “simple” and “clear” logical sequences is an art, perhaps even an accident, rather than a well-understood science. In this paper we apply artificial intelligence techniques to create systems with a very fluid, dynamic problem-solving structure to prevent rigid, inflexible logical sequencing. The rules employed to explore the problem space are modelled after experts who routinely solve problems in the task domain. The design of an example system, an airline reservation system, is discussed as a domain in which problem-solving techniques can substantially aid the user of the system (a reservation agent) to find better answers for clients in less time.
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