Shyster (expert system)
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SHYSTER is a legal expert system developed at the Australian National University in Canberra in 1993. It was written as the doctoral dissertation of James Popple under the supervision of Robin Stanton, Roger Clarke, Peter Drahos, and Malcolm Newey.[8] A full technical report of the expert system,[9] and a book[3] further detailing its development and testing have also been published.
Original author(s) | James Popple |
---|---|
Initial release | 29 April 1993; 30 years ago (1993-04-29)[1]: iii |
Final release | 1.0
|
Written in | C[2] |
Operating system | Unix-like[3]: 126 |
Size | 547 KB[4] |
Available in | English |
Type | Legal expert system |
Licence | Freeware[5] |
Website | cs |
Original author(s) | Thomas O’Callaghan |
---|---|
Initial release | 14 February 2003; 21 years ago (2003-02-14)[6]: iii |
Final release | SM-v3[7]: 10
|
Written in | MYCIN[7]: 7 |
Operating system | Unix-like |
Available in | English |
Type | Legal expert system |
Website | cs |
SHYSTER emphasises its pragmatic approach, and posits that a legal expert system need not be based upon a complex model of legal reasoning in order to produce useful advice. Although SHYSTER attempts to model the way in which lawyers argue with cases, it does not attempt to model the way in which lawyers decide which cases to use in those arguments. SHYSTER is of a general design, permitting its operation in different legal domains. It was designed to provide advice in areas of case law that have been specified by a legal expert using a bespoke specification language. Its knowledge of the law is acquired, and represented, as information about cases. It produces its advice by examining, and arguing about, the similarities and differences between cases. It derives its name from Shyster: a slang word for someone who acts in a disreputable, unethical, or unscrupulous way, especially in the practice of law and politics.