Ripple-Down Rules: The Alternative to Machine Learning

 Machine learning algorithms hold extraordinary promise, but the reality is that their success depends entirely on the suitability of the data available. This book is about Ripple-Down Rules (RDR), an alternative manual technique for rapidly building AI systems. With a human in the loop, RDR is much better able to deal with the limitations of data.

 Ripple-Down Rules: The Alternative to Machine Learning starts by reviewing the problems with data quality and the problems with conventional approaches to incorporating expert human knowledge into AI systems. It suggests that problems with knowledge acquisition arise because of mistaken philosophical assumptions about knowledge. It argues people never really explain how they reach a conclusion, rather they justify their conclusion by differentiating between cases in a context. RDR is based on this more situated understanding of knowledge.