Critiquing: Effective Decision Support in Time-Critical Domains (Dissertation Proposal)

The effective communication of information is an important concern in the design of an expert consultation system. Several researchers have chosen to adopt a critiquing mode, in which the system evaluates and reacts to a solution proposed by the user rather than presenting its own solution. In this proposal, I present an architecture for a critiquing system that functions in real-time, during the process of developing and executing a management plan in time-critical situations. The architecture is able to take account of and reason about multiple, interacting goals and to identify critical errors in the proposed management plan. This architecture is being implemented as part of the TraumAID system for the management of patients with severe injuries.