[mod.ai] Spang Robinson Report, Volume 2 No 6

E1AR0002@SMUVM1.BITNET.UUCP (06/18/86)

Summary of Spang Robinson Report, Volume 2 NO. 6
June 1986
Emphasis on AI and Parallel Processing:

There are 28 companies marketing parallel hardware with 900 machines installed
for total revenues from 1985- mid 1986 of 160 million dollars.

Alliant Computer Systems is working with Stanford and Lucid, Inc. in a
DARPA funded project to develop a public domain LISP for parallel applications
called QLISP.

Control Data is working with the University of Georgia to develop a parallel
Prolog and after that a parallel Lisp.

Flexible Computer claims that 30 to 40 percent of its customers are interested
in AI.

Concurrent Lisp from Golden Common Lisp has been benchmarked on the Gabriel
Triangle Benchmark at 86 percent of the speed of a Xerox 1108 Dandelion
using one node of the IPSC hypercube.  On a sixteen node hypercube, it
runs at 9.1 times the speed.  INTEL says that 25% of 1000 queries were
oriented to AI.

LISP Machine announced that it intends to have its Object LISP running
on the INTEL hypercube by the end of May.

Sequent Computer says that 10 to 15 percent of its customers based
their decision buying decision on the availability of LISP, 50% were
interested in AI.

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Japan Watch:

Arthur D. Little's Japan affiliate reported the results of a survey
of twenty Japanese companies.  The US has over a five year lead in Japan
in AI but the gap will narrow with time.  They predict the catchup will
be completed by 1992.  There is a twelve to one differential in the US favor
in funds invested in AI up to 1985.

The Japanese AI market in 1985 was 80 million while the American
market was $412 million.

Kansai Electric Power has been developing a diagnostic expert system for use
with nuclear reactors with the prototype finished by March 1986.  Kyushi
Electric Power Company is field testing an expert system system for diagnosis
and repair of electric power systems.  Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc.,
Hitachi Ltd and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation are working on  expert systems
for supply and demand for power and for planning system operations.

Nippon Telephone and Telegraph will officially announce KBMS, an expert
systems tool.  NTT is negotiating with other companies for collaboration
in the development of AI software.

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AI at IBM:

Dr. Herbert Schorr, Group Director for Products and Technology at IBM,
stated that IBM does not plan to release a dedicated LISP machine or AI
workstation.  It considers its RT machine to be the IBM AI workstation.
He claims that benchmarking at Carnegie Mellon has done benchmarking of
this machine which shows it fares favorably with other AI languages
and hardware.

Most of IBM's efforts in developing expert systems are for internal
applications and it does not see the need to compete with those already
providing such products.  There are 70 expert systems under development
at IBM with 24 more to be added.