In this chapter we will discuss a variety of dispute resolution decision support systems. These systems cover a wide range of disputes and many of these (particularly in the domain of family law) were constructed by the authors.

Intelligent decision support

Zeleznikow (2002) states that when considering decision-making as a knowledge-manufacturing process, the purpose of a decision support system is to help the user manage knowledge. A decision support system fulfils this purpose by enhancing the user's competence in representing and processing knowledge. It supplements human knowledge management skills with computer-based means for managing knowledge. A decision support system accepts, stores, uses, receives and presents knowledge pertinent to the decisions being made. Its capabilities are defined by the types of knowledge with which it can work, the ways in which it can represent these various types of knowledge, and its capabilities for processing these representations.

The process of decision support may generally be considered as divided into three steps:

1. (1) diagnosis of a problem;

2. (2) selection of an action; and

3. (3) implementation of that action.

We are particularly interested in the second step, the selection of an action as a choice among several alternatives.

Providing decision support under certainty means that the selection of an action leads to one and only one consequence. Providing decision support under conditions of risk means that several consequences are possible, each with a known probability.

It should be stressed that there is a major difference between decision support and decision-making.