LAWS@SRI-AI.ARPA (11/16/84)
From: AIList Moderator Kenneth Laws <AIList-REQUEST@SRI-AI> AIList Digest Friday, 9 Nov 1984 Volume 2 : Issue 151 Today's Topics: AI Hardware - Fujitsu Facom Alpha AI Literature - Journal of Intelligent Systems & Artificial Intelligence Markets & Machine Intelligence News Digest, Algorithms - Taxonomy and Uses of Malgorithms, Program Description - Social Impacts of Computing, UC-Irvine ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 9 Nov 1984 13:20 EST From: Chunka Mui <CHUNKA%MIT-OZ@MIT-MC.ARPA> Subject: AI Hardware - Fujitsu Facom Alpha In a recent issue of Electronic News (I think it was October), there was an article on AI systems which was interesting. After the usual discussion about Symbolics, LMI, and Xerox lisp machines, the article discussed a Fujitsu machine called the "facom alpha" which was priced at 90K and which Gary Moskovitz of Xerox described as a "back-end processor to a main frame." Now it doesn't seem that 90K for a back-end processor is much of a bargain, but I think the idea of a very fast Lisp processing back end for a mainframe is worth looking at. To be able to use a 3600 or a Lambda as a development environment but know that one could ultimately use a mainframe as the execution environment would, I think, make big business look more kindly upon potential AI projects. Has anyone out there seen the Fujitsu machine or know anything about it? I like to hear whatever information, thoughts, rumors, etc. people had on it. If there is a Fujitsu person out there, I'd be interested in hearing from you. I'd also like to know what kind of thoughts people had on this topic: lisp back ends for mainframes that can roughly compare with the various lisp machines as oppose to single user work station that are used now. Is anyone working on such a thing here in the U.S.? Thanks, Chunka Mui Chunka%mit-oz@mit-mc ------------------------------ Date: Mon 5 Nov 84 14:53:19-PST From: C.S./Math Library <LIBRARY@SU-SCORE.ARPA> Subject: Journal of Intelligent Systems [Forwarded from the Stanford bboard by Laws@SRI-AI.] I have received very brief information on a journal to appear in 1985. The Journal of Intelligent Systems will be published by Freund Publishing House Ltd., London England for $120 per year, a quarterly. The editors are Frank George, Les Johnson, and Mike Wright of Brunel University, Uxbridge England. The managing editor is Mrs. Alison Lovejoy, AA publishing Services, London England. The Aims and Scopes are described as follows: ...to provide research and review papers on an interdisciplinary level, where the focal point is the field of intelligent systems. This field includes: the empirical study and modelling of natural intelligent systems (human beings and also relevant studies in evolutionary theory and biology); the theoretical analysis of possible systems which could display intelligence, the development and enhancement of intelligent systems (eg learning theories) the designing of intelligent systems (or the application of intelligent systems concepts to the design of semi-intelligent machines) and the philosophical aspects of the field of intelligent systems. It is believed that technological advances in such areas as robotics and knowledge based systems are facilitated by interdisciplinary communcication. Additionally, those sciences which are concerned with the understanding of human intelligence stand to gain by such a dialogue. In keeping with the interdisciplinary intent of the journal, papers will be written for general professional readership. It is therefore important that technical jargon should be avoided, or it used , shld be made explicit........... An editorial board of 20 is being formed at present. If anyone has any information or opinions about this publication, please let me know. Does it sound like something I should order for the Math/CS Library? Harry Llull ------------------------------ Date: Wed 7 Nov 84 11:24:31-PST From: Ken Laws <Laws@SRI-AI.ARPA> Subject: Artificial Intelligence Markets I just got a flier from AIM Publications, P.O. Box 156, Natick, MA 01760. They are planning a newsletter, Artificial Intelligence Markets, to track the AI business world starting in January 1985. The price is $255 regular, $195 charter, $380 2-year, and $550 3-year for 12 issues per year of eight pages each. The flier claims this to be the ONLY publication dedicated to covering commercial AI (also DoD and Fifth Generation coverage). Perhaps they aren't aware of the AI Report from AI Publications (95 first st., Los Altos, CA 94022), or of the Georgia Tech (?) newsletter described in AIList about six months ago. I've also heard recently of an "AI and its Applications" newsletter, but have no details. The flier does mention levels of AI investment by U.S. companies, and claims that the current AI market of $125 million (36% software, 12% intelligent robots, 52% LISP workstations) will expand to $4,440 million by 1990: 43% software (7% LISP, 13% expert system tools, 5% natural language, 8% programming languages, 8% military, 2% other), 15% intelligent robots, 28% LISP workstations, 11% other processors, and 3% AI communications. -- Ken Laws ------------------------------ Date: Wed 7 Nov 84 15:32:24-PST From: Ken Laws <Laws@SRI-AI.ARPA> Reply-to: AIList-Request@SRI-AI Subject: Machine Intelligence News Digest From the November issue of IEEE Spectrum, p. 123: Yet another newsletter covering the field of artificial intelligence has been announced, but this time it comes from the United Kingdom. Machine Intelligence News Digest is the first British news publication to monitor artificial intelligence on a monthly basis. It will concentrate on the existing and potential applications of AI and their impact on the industrial and commercial world. It will also include a calendar of events and a publication review section. Regular coverage will be given to artificial vision and speech recognition, AI languages such as LISP, integrating intelligent machines with computer-aided systems, and AI research programs. These include the DARPA effort in the United States, the fifth- generation project in Japan, and the Esprit program in France. The monthly newsletter costs 110 pounds annually ($140). Subscription information is available by writing the publisher, Oyez Scientific and Technical Services Ltd., Bath House, 3rd Fl., 56 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2EX, England; or calling 01-236-4080. ------------------------------ Date: 7 Nov 84 14:06:29 EST From: BIESEL@RUTGERS.ARPA Subject: Taxonomy of malgorithms. Now that the concept of malgorithms has been defined it behooves us as serious scientists to classify the different kinds of malgorithms, to write learned papers in obscure journals, and to generally do everything to bring scholarly respectability to this heretofore underrecognized area of computer science. The following is a modest contribution to the establishment of a taxonomy of malgorithms. The notion of an optimal algorithm is an old one, and the definition of of optimality in time, say, or in storage is straightforward. The little "o" and the big "O" notation is well established and suffices to define the complexity of an algorithm (except for a constant or two), and thus permits the comparison of two algorithms for the same problem. The optimal algorithm is therefore simply that algorithm which has the lowest time complexity for any given problem. Often it is possible to prove mathematically that the best possible algorithm for a given class of problems cannot do better than some lower bound. The converse of this, the worst possible algorithm, is not as easily defined. Is the worst possible algorithm one that never finishes, while wiping out every piece of storage and tying up your computer until you unplug it? Or, more insidious, does this algorithm appear to run normally, generate recognizable output, but produce results that are subtly wrong, so wrong as to cause maximum damage when the results are used? If we restrict our considerations only to those algorithms that actually produce the correct result, but do so in the longest possible time, we run into other problems. The concept of 'longest possible time' is ill-defined, since we do not know the temporal extent of the universe. Neglecting for the moment the relatively trivial problem of how to keep a computer running forever ( a hardware problem, and therefore not worthy of our consideration), we still need to define some upper bounds on the time intervals we are considering. Assumption 1: The universe will exist forever. Definition 1: Any algorithm that runs forever before it produces the correct result is a member of the class "Aleph Zero". Extensions to algorithms that take longer than this are made in the obvious way (i.e. classes aleph one etc.). The development of such an algorithm is left as an exercise to the reader. Assumption 2: The universe will exist until some terminal climactic event. Definition 2: Any algorithm that runs a finite amount of time, and produces its output at the last moment of existence, is a member of the class "Gabriel". (members of non-christian religions may wish to substitute a climactic event of their own choice). While the classes thus far defined would appear to specify theoretical upper bounds for malgorithm execution times, some practitioners may be concerned with malgorithms that take into account the limitations of present hardware configurations. While this kind of pandering to mechanical strictures is abhorrent to every theoretician, some precedents exist in the literature, and we will accordingly briefly touch upon the subject here. Suppose we have devised a malgorithm which can run an arbitrary amount of time before producing its result. The task now becomes one of maximizing this time, subject to the constraints formed by the finite MTBF of the hardware, and the equally finite tolerance threshold of the person waiting for the result. Definition 3: Any malgorithm which produces its output at the last possible instant before either the hardware fails, or the user terminates the program is a member of class "Epsilon". As an aside, malgorithms of this class will usually require some additions to the operating system to recognize an attempt to cancel the program execution. Hardware modifications, in the form of energy storage systems to permit the program to print its output after the frustrated user has pulled the power plug, will probably also be necessary. It should be noted that malgorithms of class "Epsilon" have an unfortunate flaw: since they produce output whenever they are terminated by the user, they are also the fastest possible algorithms for any problem, being limited only by the speed with which the user can pull the plug. Once malgorithms of this class have become established, future work in computational speedup will likely focus on fast switches for power cutoff. Now that we have defined some upper bounds on theoretical malgorithm performance, we would like to define some additional classes of actual malgorithms, primarily for taxonomic purposes. The classes below are only a beginning, and the reader is invited to contribute additional definitions and examples to the discussion. The classes are not maximal or minimal in any sense, but merely define some categories of malgorithms. Example malgorithms should be easily recognized as falling into one or another of the classes defined. Definition 4: Malgorithms which employ recursion to solve a problem for which there exists a closed form solution are members of class "Fibonacci". Definition 5: Malgorithms which solve a problem by exhaustive generation of all permutations, when there is any alternative solution, are members of class "Salesman". Definition 6: Malgorithms which apply a general algorithm to the wrong size problem are members of class "Heapsort". Example: Heapsort applied to the list 1,3,2. Definition 7: Malgorithms for Monte-Carlo solutions to analytic functions are members of class "Pi". Definition 8: Malgorithms which provide a solution to a problem by solving a more complex isomorphic problem are members of the class "Gauss". Example: Multiplication of two numbers by adding their logarithms. Definition 9: Malgorithms which perform redundant computations are members of class "Sheep". Example: Determining the number of sheep in a herd by counting the number of legs and dividing by four. It should be noted that the classes proposed here are neither exhaustive, nor are they mutually exclusive. Most current programs contain algorithms which upon inspection are really malgorithms that fall into one or more of the classes here defined. It is our devout hope that this short note will lead to a more intensive investigation of this much neglected area of computer science. The author is convinced that this area can provide subject matter for several Ph.D. dissertations at the more mathematically rigorous institutions of higher learning, and wishes to express his gratitude to the contributors to the Ailist, who have given the impetus for this important work. Biesel@Rutgers.ARPA ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Nov 84 11:30:22 cst From: "Walter G. Rudd" <rudd%lsu.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa> Subject: data structures + malgorithms = It is clear that there are many more malgorithms than problems, if for no other reason than we all have more solutions than problems. The real science of malgorithms is to find really useful applications of good malgorithms beyond the trivial ones of classroom and textbook examples. To my surprise there really are such uses, or there is at least one. The other day I was talking with an attorney about copyrighting programs. He says that in copyright cases in which there is some question of authorship, judges are often impressed by "fingerprints" embedded in software. The usual kind of fingerprint is a copyright notice buried in block 0 of an index file, variable names which form a code for the author's name, etc. But he says the most effective fingerprints are sections of code so poorly designed and written that their inclusion in the software must have been intentional, since nobody would be stupid enough to use such sloppy techniques in their normal practice. In court, to prove you wrote the program, you simply point out the bad parts to the judge and claim that, since you are an expert, the only way that code could have gotten there was by your intentionally inserting a fingerprint. A nice side effect of this technique is that we now have a good excuse to give to grad students and others who discover malgorithms in our programs. We simply say that we are preparing to protect our copyright. So here we have the birth of a new discipline. Not only do we have the design and analysis of malgorithms; we now have applications of malgorithms as well. The question is, are there any other applications? ------------------------------ Date: 3 Nov 1984 1201-PST From: Rob-Kling <Kling%UCI-20B@UCI-750a> Subject: Program Description - Social Impacts of Computing, UC-Irvine CORPS Graduate Education in Computing, Organizations, Policy, and Society at the University of California, Irvine This graduate concentration at the University of California, Irvine provides an opportunity for scholars and students to investigate the social dimensions of computerization in a setting which supports reflective and sustained inquiry. The primary educational opportunities are PhD concentrations in the Department of Information and Computer Science (ICS) and MS and PhD concentrations in the Graduate School of Management (GSM). Students in each concentration can specialize in studying the social dimensions of computing. The faculty at Irvine have been active in this area, with many interdisciplinary projects, since the early 1970's. The faculty and students in the CORPS have approached them with methods drawn from the social sciences. The CORPS concentration focuses upon four related areas of inquiry: 1. Examining the social consequences of different kinds of computerization on social life in organizations and in the larger society. 2. Examining the social dimensions of the work and organizational worlds in which computer technologies are developed, marketed, disseminated, deployed, and sustained. 3. Evaluating the effectiveness of strategies for managing the deployment and use of computer-based technologies. 4. Evaluating and proposing public policies which facilitate the development and use of computing in pro-social ways. Studies of these questions have focussed on complex information systems, computer-based modelling, decision-support systems, the myriad forms of office automation, electronic funds transfer systems, expert systems, instructional computing, personal computers, automated command and control systems, and computing at home. The questions vary from study to study. They have included questions about the effectiveness of these technologies, effective ways to manage them, the social choices that they open or close off, the kind of social and cultural life that develops around them, their political consequences, and their social carrying costs. CORPS studies at Irvine have a distinctive orientation - (i) in focussing on both public and private sectors, (ii) in examining computerization in public life as well as within organizations, (iii) by examining advanced and common computer-based technologies "in vivo" in ordinary settings, and (iv) by employing analytical methods drawn from the social sciences. Organizational Arrangements and Admissions for CORPS The CORPS concentration is a special track within the normal graduate degree programs of ICS and GSM. Admission requirements for this concentration are the same as for students who apply for a PhD in ICS or an MS or PhD in GSM. Students with varying backgrounds are encouraged to apply for the PhD programs if they show strong research promise. The seven primary faculty in the CORPS concentration hold appointments in the Department of Information and Computer Science and the Graduate School of Management. Additional faculty in the School of Social Sciences, and the program on Social Ecology, have collaborated in research or have taught key courses for CORPS students. Research is administered through an interdisciplinary research institute at UCI which is part of the Graduate Division, the Public Policy Research Organization. Students who wish additional information about the CORPS concentration should write to: Professor Rob Kling (Kling@uci) Department of Information and Computer Science University of California, Irvine Irvine, Ca. 92717 714-856-5955 or 856-7403 or to: Professor Kenneth Kraemer (Kraemer@uci) Graduate School of Management University of California, Irvine Irvine, Ca. 92717 714-856-5246 ------------------------------ End of AIList Digest ********************