The techniques used to create this PDSS were simple applications of AI techniques. More sophisticated techniques which incorporate certainty factors into the expert system and complex sentence analysis require computers with greater capacity than today's personal computers. Dedicated circuitry to make the processing of symbols (strings) more efficient are already being used to speed up systems. LISP compilers and LISP interpreters on silicon are being developed and they promise to greatly speed up the execution of instructions. A technological advance in which VLSI chips integrate the processing of over 60 other VLSI chips appears to be a promising, and relatively inexpensive, method of achieving a parallel machine. But as important as these advances are to increasing the speed and capacity of the PDSS, the most important advance for achieving a practical PDSS is the microcomputer.
The inexpensive personal computer places the computing capabilities at the command of non technical personnel who would otherwise be unable to access the information or perform the appropriate analysis. Since individuals in an organization are the most inflexible factors in this implementation, the AI technology should be introduced as early as possible so that they can adapt to the new technology. The advantage of this approach is that it preserves the competitive edge which information can provide.
The personal computer provides computing capabilities at the closest point to decision making, i.e., the individual manager. The personal computer is highly modular and can be tailored to fit the information needs of any position. This modular capability becomes a physical reflection of how the entire function of the computer can be individualized. When the software becomes as flexible as the physical nature of the personal computer, it becomes a modular repository for both the knowledge needed to perform in the position for which it has been tailored and the processing functions needed to examine alternatives suggested by the knowledge base. Linked with other AI workstations through a network, the distributed processing system concept can be extended to include the processing done by individuals in the organization.
If the world economy is evolving into an information-based economy, the tools for handling information must change. Information handling at present is highly labor-intensive. The skills needed to handle information presently take years to acquire and are relatively narrow in scope. The AI technology can provide the bridge between these narrow areas of expertise by shifting the division of labor in the narrow areas of expertise to the computer. The labor of keeping current on narrow areas of knowledge be done for the individual manager by the computer. Because the human element is the slowest to change, now is the time to begin the transition.