[mod.ai] Review - SI Interactions, 2/86

E1AR0002@SMUVM1.BITNET (02/22/86)

FROM:  E1AR0002%SMUVM1.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU


Summary of
AI Interactions, Volume 1, Number 7, February 1986

Texas Instruments has invested more money in AI research than the Japanese
in their Fifth Generation Project.  The Computer Systems Laboratory is
working to design computers with several different types of processors
on the same bus or chip, e. g. array procesors, graphics processors and
symbolic processors.  They also developing an architectural concept called
Odyssey which combines multiple digital signal processing chips on a single
NuBus board.

At the Purdue University  in West Lafayette, they have developed
an expert sytem that assists farmers in determining the best way to market
their prodcut.  It has 180 rules with the prototype done in three months.

Discussion of the features of Personal Consultant Plus.  It includes
frames, meta-rules and mapping functions.  Also discusses the use of contexts.

Texas Instruments has announced Relational Table Management System, a
database system for the Explorer.  It interfaces with the Lisp environment.
A domain can store any type of object including graphics, pointers,
lists, relation names or large amounts of text.  It interfaces with
Natural Language Menu, a graphics tool kit,PROLOG.

Texas Instruments has developed an expert system to assist pilots
in the F-16.  The Defense Department awarded TI 3 million dollars to
develop a similar system for attack helicopters.  The F-16 system
handles two specific problems, towershaft failure and loss of canopy.
Towershaft is the mechanism by which the F-16 jet engine provides
power to other aircraft systems.

Garvey@SRI-AI.ARPA (Tom Garvey) (02/24/86)

From: Tom Garvey <Garvey@SRI-AI.ARPA>


It sounds as if TI for all their investment in AI, has made progress
toward the partial solution of two problems.  Since this is about the
average number of examples required for receiving a Ph.D. in AI, they
seem to have partially fulfilled the requirements.

Clearly, expertise in AI marketing is what students should be striving
for today -- the state-of-the-art of the technology itself is of (at
best) secondary importance.

Cheers,
Tom
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