Volume 10, Issue 4
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Volume 10, Issue 4
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| Jul/Aug 1996 | |
| Theme: Knowledge Based Systems |
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To Volume 10, Issue 3
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To Volume 10, Issue 5
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Features
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| Intelligent Software Maintenance -- Lisa J. Burnell - Software debugging, particularly at the assembler language level, requires hard-won expertise. A major airline has captured such expertise in a system which combines knowledge-based technology with belief networks. |
| Overview: Knowledge-Based Systems Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow -- Dustin Huntington - Soon to be a major presence on the World Wide Web, Knowledge-based systems, solve well defined problems. This makes them ideal as a Web-resident technology for any area that requires specific expertise. |
| Objects in Business: System Development -- Jerry Huchzermeier - System builders will ultimately use object thinking to reengineer business processes. They will implement object oriented models in technology which supports business changes. |
| Neural Networks for Image Reconstruction -- Will Dwinnell - Image processing numerically enhances an image's pixels by using information in each pixel's immediate neighbors. Neural nets present the possiblility of dynamic mechanisms for repairing damaged images. |
| Agents Infiltrate the Business World -- Will Dwinnell - The World Wide Web has elevated intelligent agents to a status that no other AI technology enjoys. A knolwedge-based technology that resembles expert systems, agents have gone to work in numerous organizations. |
| Cybernautica - Hal Berghel - The most extensive survey of Internet use to date has been the Commerce-Net/Nielsen Report, commisioned by CommerceNet and conducted by Nielsen Media Research. |
| Regulars | ||
| Editorial | ||
| Interview - Vincent McGugan | Somewhere between an ad and a review, each installment in our Vendor's forum series gives you a look at a product from a side you seldom see -- the inside. In this installment, Gold Hill's Vincent McGugan describes the thinking behind AgentWorks. | |
| Vendor's Forum - MATLAB's Fuzzy Logic Toolbox | Ken Karnofsky, Ned Gulley, and Lisa Kempler of The MathWorks Inc. describe the thought process behind the development of an environment which allows you to build fuzzy logic into a variety of systems. | |
| Product Updates ----------------------------> | 21 late breaking product announcements from around the world in the fields of: | |
| Conferences | Expert Systems | |
| Helpdesk | Internet | |
| Knowledge-Based Systems | Languages | |
| Neural Networks | Object Oriented Development | |
| Pattern Recognition Software | Publications | |
| Tools | ||
| PC AI Buyer's Guide ----------------------> | Decision Support | Expert Systems |
| Expert System Development Tools | ||
| Product Service Guide - Provides access to information on an entire category of products | ||
| PC AI Blackboard - AI advertisers bulletin board | ||
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Advertiser List for 10.4
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| AAAI | G6G Consulting | NeuroDimension Inc |
| AbTech Corporation | Gensym | NIBS Inc |
| Amzi! Inc | Harlequin Inc | OXKO Corporation |
| Applied Logic Systems Inc | Hess Consulting | PC AI Internet Report |
| ATTAR Software USA | HyperLogic Corporation | Pinnacle Data |
| Axcelis Inc | Information Builders | Primenet Inc |
| BioComp Systems | Intelligent Machines | Production Systems Tech |
| Blackboard Technology Group | IntelliNet | Prolog Development Center |
| Brightware Inc | ISoft | Soft Warehouse Inc |
| California Scientific Software | ITANIS International | Teknowledge Corporation |
| EXSYS Inc | Knowledge Garden Inc | The Haley Enterprise Inc |
| Finance and Technology | KnowledgeBroker Inc | The Schwartz Associates |
| Flexible Intelligence | Logic Programming Assoc | Ward Systems Group Inc |
| Franz Inc | Mikuni Berkeley | |
| FuziWare Inc | Network Cybernetics | |
| Fuzzy Systems Engineering | NeuralWare Inc |
| As we turn our attention to Knowledge-Based Systems once again, we marvel at their importance, their evolution, and their diversity. (We also marvel at the fact that we've been in the Editor's chair for exactly five years.) | |
| How important have these systems become? The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) used this technology (via a program written in Amzi! Prolog) to create the schedule for its 1997 basketball season. Why? Constraints on any major college conference basketball schedule are extremely demanding. In the ACC, a team has to play each other team twice -- once at home and once away. Other constraints depend on TV coverage, on teams that have to play on certain days, and on a desire for a schedule that's fair to all teams: an equal number of home and away games during each half-season, not more than two home or away games in a row, and an equal number of weekend home games and midweek home games. Thanks to the kind of technology we focus on in this issue, the ACC commissioner is happy, the coaches are happy, and the TV schedulers are happy. About the time your favorite college basketball team shoots its first three-pointer, look for a story about this system in PC AI. | |
| The articles we bring you illustrate the diversity and evolution of knowledge-based systems. In our Feature Article ("Intelligent Software Maintenance"), Lisa Burnell shows how this technology can help maintain legacy software. She describes a knowledge-based system combined with belief networks. Dubbed DAACS, this combination enables a major airline to accelerate the process of debugging assembler language programs. In "Agents Infiltrate the Business World," David Blanchard reports on intelligent agents that navigate through information stored on the Internet and on corporate intranets. These agents are miniature knowledge-based systems that have found application in a variety of important real-world areas. Continuing the Internet- and Web-centric theme, EXSYS President Dustin Huntington's Overview ("Knowledge-Based Systems: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow") presents thoughts on the future of expert systems on the World Wide Web. In our Vendor's Forum ("AgentWorks" ) Vince McGugan summarizes the thinking behind Gold Hill's object oriented environment for building embeddable expert systems. | |
| As always, we haven't confined ourselves to just one topic. For neural net fans, we've included Will Dwinell's "Neural Networks for Image Reconstruction," a look at a fascintating application area (and testbed) for neural net technology. For system designers, we present Jerry Huchzermeier's concluding installment of "Objects in Business." Jerry shows how object thinking translates into every aspect of system development. For Web surfers, we've got the lovely and talented Hal Berghel's "Cybernautica." In this installment, our venerable Technical Editor discusses surveys of Internet use. | |
| I'll close on a personal note. I said at the top that I marvel at having occupied the Editor's chair for five years. The reason I feel this way is that seems like only yesterday that I assumed this position -- further evidence that time flies when you're having fun. Many have credited me with the growth and development of the magazine. In truth, however, the lion's share of the accolades should go to Terry, Robin, Peggy, Elisa, John, and Diana. They have my deepest thanks for a fabulous half-decade. | |
| Joseph Schmuller |
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