[mod.ai] Summary of Spang Robinson Report Volume 3, No. 1, January 1987

leff%smu@csnet-relay.UUCP.UUCP (01/27/87)

The first Article: The AI Winter?

This is a discussion of whether the "AI industry" has "losts its momentum" or
is it a changing  market.  There is also a discussion of the possibilities of
AI being done in conventional programming languages.

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Investors Viewpoint

Interview with Montgomery Venture on the possibilities of venture capital
for AI companies.

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New Products

Borland has introduced a Prolog toolbox to go with its Prolog.  It includes
features to assist in the user interface, to import data from various
other microcomputer programs such as 1-2-3, parser generators, serial
communications.

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Japan Watch

The Japanese Manufacturing industry is now using 500 AI work stations.
These included 153 Symbolics 3600 series, 15 Lambda series, 50 Fujitsu
Facom Systems, 300 Xerox 1121's and seven TI Explorers.

The Japanese AI Market is 3.125 million dollars.

The Japanese hosted the Sixth Medical Information Study Conference.
Japanese Hospitals are using SURGIST-AI from Fujitsu and EXCORE from NEC.

Nihon Electronics technology Institute of Tokyo has a two year
course for "knowledge engineering."

NEC will be releasing a new AI system called Co-operative HIgh
performance Inference machine (CHI).

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Japanese Construction Applications

Fudo Construction is developing a design support system for the entire
phase of building construction.  Tokyo construction has
developed the Land Development Provisions Consultation Expert System.
Mitsui is planning to develop several AI systems.  Asahi Glass is developing
a production planning system for plate glas sprocessing.  Nihon cement
will develop a cement manufacturing expert system.
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Shorts:

One third of the nation's largest insurance companies are using or are
in the process of gearing up to use expert systems.  However only
two per cent have actually put expert systems into use.

Lucid has completed a 4.5 million dollar second round of financing.
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Reviews of Applying Expert Systems in Business by Dimitris Chorafas,
Expert Systems TEchniques Tools and Applications by Philip Klahr and
Donald A. Waterman, Artificial Intelligence and Expert Systems by
V. Daniel Hunt, Advances in Cognitive Science 1 edited by N. E.
Sharkey and Explanation Patterns; Understanding Mechanically and
creatively by Roger C. Shank.