How did expert systems change the field of artificial intelligence in the 1980s?

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history of artificial intelligence (AI) British mathematician Alan Turing, c. 1930s. Turing did the earliest work on AI, and he introduced many of the central concepts of AI in a report entitled “Intelligent Machinery” (1948).

Expert systems significantly impacted artificial intelligence in the 1980s by demonstrating AI's practical applications. These systems, designed to mimic human specialists, utilized a knowledge base and an inference engine to solve complex problems in specialized domains. This led to commercial applications in fields like medical diagnosis and financial investing, showcasing AI's potential beyond theoretical research. The development of expert systems marked a shift towards more applied AI, proving that AI could outperform individual human experts in narrow, well-defined areas.12