Villages in developing countries often lack many things. Books, clean water, electricity. These shortages are
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to
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But a
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kind of shortage is not easy to see. That is a shortage of
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Many villages have no doctors, engineers or scientists. They have no one who knows
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to treat unusual medical problems or design a new expert system. There"s a way to ease these problems. They can do it with
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. In the past few years, computer scientists around the world
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they call expert systems. An expert system is a special kind of computer program. In some
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, it can take the place of a human expert. For example, an expert in
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system can help
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a sick person. A question appears on the computer screen, "Is the person hot" You tell the computer either yes or no. The computer asks
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questions. "Has the person lost any blood" "Can the person move normally" You
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The computer continues to ask questions
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it has enough
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to make a decision. Then it tells what
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or other treatment is needed. In this way the expert system takes the place of a
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Another kind of expert system takes the place of an engineer. It
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the flow of water in a river. It tells if a dam can be built
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the river. It also tells
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electricity can be produced. Still other kinds of expert systems help solve problems for farmers and owners of small businesses.