AI Fundamentals

The inference engine is the core processing component of an expert system. It works by applying logical rules to the facts and knowledge stored in the knowledge base in order to derive conclusions, draw inferences, and retrieve the specific information needed to respond to a user's query. While the knowledge base holds the stored facts/rules and the explanation module justifies how a conclusion was reached, it is the inference engine that actively performs the reasoning and retrieval process that answers the user's request.