3.5 Rule-Based Systems
Rule-based AI follows "if this, then that" rules written by humans. Old-school, predictable, and still used everywhere.
Chapter 3: Fundamentals of AI
Before machine learning took over, most AI was rule-based: experts wrote out rules, and the computer followed them. "IF temperature > 38°C AND cough = yes THEN suggest a flu test."
Rule-based systems are great when rules are clear and stakes are high, because you can see exactly why a decision was made. They're still used in things like tax software, simple chatbots and safety checks.
The downside: the real world is messy. You can't write a rule for every possible situation, and updating thousands of rules is painful. That's exactly the problem machine learning solves.
Key takeaways
Rule-based = human-written IF/THEN logic
Transparent and predictable
Breaks down when the world gets messy