ABSTRACT
There will be a variety of knowledge management (KM) developments in the coming years that artificial intelligence (AI) technology will greatly impact. Wiig (1999) points out a few of these areas:
There will be major knowledge transformation functions and repositories, such as capture and codification functions, and computer-based knowledge functions, such as training and educational programs, expert networks, and knowledge-based systems, and the different knowledge application or value-realization functions where work is performed or knowledge assets are sold, leased, or licensed.
KM will be supported by many AI developments including intelligent agents, natural language understanding and processing, and knowledge representations and ontologies that will continue to develop and, by providing greater capabilities, will be relied on to organize knowledge and to facilitate knowledge application to important situations.
Intelligent agents will not only acquire desired and relevant information and knowledge, but will also reason with it relative to the situation at hand (see Appendix D).
An enterprise should experience faster organizational and personal learning through more effective discovery of knowledge via knowledge discovery and other systematic methods.
There should be less loss of knowledge through attrition or personnel reassignments achieved by effective capture of routine and operational knowledge from departing personnel.
Intelligent agents deployed internally and externally will offload data detective work required to locate and evaluate information required in many knowledge worker situations ranging from plant operators to ad hoc strategic task forces.
Emerging sources of prepackaged knowledge will be sold (for example, LearnerFirst, Inc. is already doing this).
64Electronic advisory or consulting services are already emerging whereby knowledge-based systems can be bought in areas ranging from tax advice for individuals to water treatment for thermal power plants.
