> "It turns out that expert systems are just another way to program"

Yes I agree with this, if you are providing the expert system with premises, although not specific to a particular problem, then you are effectively programming it.

I wonder if we could discover and obtain premises through some automated system, then the deductive process could still apply, leaving us with an understanding of how the solution to a goal was reached via the deductive argument. Do you know if this has been attempted?