Volume 12, Issue 1
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Volume 12, Issue 1
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| Jan/Feb 1998 | |
| Theme: Intelligent Tools and Languages |
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To Volume 11, Issue 6
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To Volume 12, Issue 2
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Features
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| ai@work - How are intelligent tools being used to solve real world problems? Money laundering detection, idea processing, real time prediction, and insurance fraud detection are some success stories from Neuron Data, Prolog Development Center, System Dynamics International, and WizSoft. |
| Modeling Methodology 2: Model Input Selection -- In the second part of his three part series, Will Dwinnell explains why more isn't necessarily better when creating a model, such as a neural network, for making predictions and arriving at recommendations. |
| It's in the Mailbot -- Has finding a particular email message ever seemed like looking for a needle in a haystack? You remember the sender and topic///but just can't seem to find it in your files of saved messages. George Ritchie examines Mailbot, a program that does the searching for you. |
| Review: EZ-Xpert - RAD Comes to Expert Systems - Michael Wilder reviews EZ-Xpert, AI Developers, Inc.'s rapid application development (RAD) environment. He shows how this product helps people with basic computer skills create rule-base expert systems. |
| Regulars | ||
| Editorial | ||
| Vendor's Forum - NeuralWorks Predict Plus in Process Control | ||
| Secret Agent Man -Microsoft's New Animated Agent Technology | by Don Barker | |
| Intelligence Files - Corporate World is Taking AI A Lot More Seriously | by David Blanchard | |
| AI and the Net - Expert Systems on the Net | ||
| Product Updates ---------------------------> | 16 late breaking product announcements from around the world in the fields of: | |
| Expert Systems | Expert Systems Development Tools | |
| Help Desk | Internet | |
| Languages | Neural Nets | |
| Tools | Training | |
| Voice Recognition | ||
| PC AI Buyer's Guide ----------------------> | Intelligent Tools | Languages |
| Web 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 12.1
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| AAAI | Franz Inc. | Pinnacle Data |
| AI Developers Inc. | Hess Consulting | Portland Energy Strategies. |
| American Heuristics Corp. | Intelligent Systems Report | Prentice Hall |
| Amzi! Inc. | IntelliNet | Primenet Inc. |
| Applied Logic Systems | KnowledgeBroker Inc. | Production Systems Technologies Inc. |
| ATTAR Software USA | Logic Programming Assoc Ltd | Prolog Development Center |
| BioComp Systems Inc. | Mikuni Berkeley | Quality Monitoring & Control |
| Blackboard Technology Group | NeuralWare/AspenTech | Soft Warehouse Inc. |
| BotSpot | Neuron Data | System Dynamics International Inc. |
| Brightware Inc. | NeuroDimension | The Haley Enterprises Inc. |
| California Scientific Software | Original Systems | Ward Systems Group Inc. |
| Churchill Systems | OXKO Corporation | WizSoft Inc. |
| DB EXPO . | PAEXPO '98 | Xi Computer Corporation |
| Flexible Intelligence Group | PC AI AI Report |
| As we begin our 12th year, you will notice some changes in PC AI. This more contemporary look reflects the image being presented by the AI community. AI has often been criticized as a technological solution looking for a problem, and the Internet, with its vast quantities of distributed and unorganized data and hidden knowledge, is that problem. AI companies are finding a new home - and a new beginning on the Internet and its close cousin, the Intranet. | |
| "Electronic commerce on the Web" is the new buzz phrase as everyone from small businesses to major corporations vie for a place in the Internet spotlight. However, before consumers buy products off a distant Web site, they must be drawn to that site. In Dennis Merritt's new column "AI and the Net," he shows how AI is ideal for attracting the right people to a Web site. Once people are there, where are the salespeople to help wiht the technical, support, and costing questions needed to close the sale? Sites must have the ability to answer questions, customize the order, and the expertise a human salesperson provides. Once again, a perfect fit for AI technology and intelligent tools. After the sale, support and maintenance become an issue. Diagnoses and maintenance is one of expert systems' claims to fame - a natural fit for a Web interface. Another example of the power of AI is hidden beneath the Infoseek search engine. As you enter text strings to refine your search, it uses neural network technology to look at the context of your search and pop up banner ads that match your inquiry. For example, pages which match "ATM" and "Bank" will display different ads than those matching "ATM" and "Networking" - very targeted advertising. | |
| Along with the new look you will find new columns. "AI and the Net," mentioned earlier, will focus on the symbiotic relationship between AI and the Internet. Dennis highlights the use of AI technology to categorize,search, and distribute the vast knowledge base that is the Internet. Our second new column, "Secret Agent Man," by Don Barker covers intelligent agents or "bots." Don explains how these autonomous programs, in this issue animated agent actors, use AI technology to perform the "intelligent" tasks assigned to them. He also provides examples of their use - including their acceptance within traditionally conservative companies. speaking of "bots," George Ritchie takes a look at "Mailbot," an AI-based tool using natural language processing, speech recognition, and Prolog's Defininte Clause Grammar to help locate email within an archive. In "The Intelligence Files," our recently-introduced third column, David Blanchard illustrates the mainstreaming of AI with recent examples of speech recognition, virtual reality, and expert systems. | |
| This issue begins with "AI@Work," an assortment of application stories ranging from fraud detection by the U.S. Treasury Department and MetLife to creating an environment conducive to problem solving and thinking. Rounding out this collection is a successful application of real-time sensor fault prediction in the chemical industry. Will Dwinnell, in "Modeling Methodology 2" continues his three part series on the development of neural networks and rule induction systems. In this installment, Will clarifies the process of choosing the input variables use to create a neural network model - model input selection. We also include Michael Wilder's review of EZ-Xpert from AI Developers, Inc., a product that provides a means of formally verifying a knowledge base. I'm watching to see how many free trips to Las Vegas AI Developers will give to users who find errors in their ability to verify knowledge bases. In our Vendor's Forum, Casey Klimasauskas provides insight into the inferential sensor - critical to many process control and manufacturing applications. | |
| We're looking forward to exciting times in 1998, and hope it's a happy new year for all. | |
| Terry Hengl |
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