Intelligent Information Systems

Databases of the future must deal with the demands of the increasingly complex applications to which database technology is being applied. This challenge is being addressed by intelligent information systems, which successfully integrate artificial intelligence technologies into the database realm, resulting in a powerful synergism. This article focuses on the next generation of databases that are enhanced by the influence of artificial intelligence, including knowledge representation, object orientation, deductive capabilities, rule processing techniques, and knowledge discovery. This article also addresses the need for intelligent information systems to support nontraditional objects such as those found in multimedia systems. Representative application domains that can benefit from intelligent information systems are also presented.