The use of production systems in RITA to construct personal computer "agents"

Abstract

A production system called RITA has been developed on a PDP-11/UNIX minicomputer system, to allow the development of "user agents": small programs that perform useful tasks for a user. RITA rules are written in an English-like language, allowing an agent's logic to be understood by a computer-naive user. The RITA system contains explanatory facilities capable of giving substantial trace and historical information regarding the operation of a user agent. An example of the design and implementation of a user agent is given, followed by a discussion of advantages and disadvantages of production systems for this application. Most perceived advantages rely to some extent on the use of the system's explanatory facilities.