Generality watching: ITS caught between science and engineering

Abstract

The paper describes lessons learned in the development of EUROHELP, a shell for building intelligent help systems (IHS) for users of conventional software applications (IPS). The functional decomposition was derived from a model of process control from the KADS methodology for knowledge engineering. The ambition of EUROHELP was to provide the technology for making IHS for any IPS. This required to keep modules general. This was largely achieved, but the solutions ranged from ad-hoc to deep, generic ones. In particular the role of an ontology of IPS is discussed. The moral of the paper is that ITS research may have moved from its old role as an important contributor to AI research into an applier of AI techniques and theories of cognitive science, but that there is an important new role in developing an ‘ITS-knowledge-engineering’ methodology. This role is hardly taken up yet. The paper suggests a liaison with KADS.