Depending on the specijic expert system application,
individuals and organizations involved in the expert
system development and marketing chain may unwittingly
surrender themselves to high-risk exposure to tort
liability legal actions, in the event that an innocent third
paw should sufler physical harm. lhe degree of risk
turns on whether the expert system is viewed by the
Court as a "product" or as a "service. " lhis paperjirst
examines the implication of this determination in two
areas of tort, product liability and negligence, and then
outlines the issues surrounding the "product-service
continuum " as applied specijically to the expert system
development and marketing environment. Finally, this
paper presents proactive measures that expert system
developers and vendors should consider in order to
minimize exposure to risk.