POVZETEK

Ekspertni sistemi (ES) predstavljajo enega izmed načinov strojne nadomestitve kognitivnih sposobnosti človeka. Od prvih omemb ES do danes je minilo več desetletij. Široke razsežnosti potencialne uporabe tudi v gradbeni stroki so v zadnjih dvajsetih letih (predvsem v drugi polovici osemdesetih in v prvi polovici devetdesetih spodbudile raziskovalce doma in po svetu k izdelavi številnih prototipov. Ti pa so žal le redko postali komercialni sistemi ali vitalni del poslovnega procesa in inženirskega dela nasploh. Preteklo obdobje predstavlja primerno podlago za pregled in oceno stanja razvoja in uporabe ES v gradbeništvu. Pričujoči prispevek nudi reprezentativen pregled z nekaterimi kritičnimi ocenami. Pri tem je izpostavljena pomembna vloga interneta, ne samo kot neizčrpnega vira informacij, ampak kot informacijsko - komunikacijska infrastruktura orodij naslednje generacije.

SUMMARY

Expert systems (ES) represent one of the possible ways to simulate cognitive abilities of a human. Early developments in the area of ES are dated several decades from now. The wide range of possible uses of ES in civil engineering has attracted numerous researchers that have developed several prototypes in last twenty years (especially in late 80-ies and in the first half of the 90-ies). However, only some of those systems have become commercial, or one of the vital parts in business process, neither they had significant role in engineering work. This period represents firm base for the state of the art study of ES in civil engineering. The paper gives a representative overview with some critical remarks. A special emphasis is given to the Internet, not only as information source, but also as information-communication infrastructure for the tools of the next generation.