Volume 13, Issue 1
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Volume 13, Issue 1
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| Jan/Feb 1999 | |
| Theme: Intelligent Tools and Languages |
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To Volume 12, Issue 6
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To Volume 13, Issue 2
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Features
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| Domain-Specific Languages - Tools for Better Programming Paul Morrow and Michael Alexander discuss the importance of DSLs and highlight some examples. This article includes a sidebar on Language Implementation in Visual Prolog |
| Cutting the Guillotine Down to Size Michael McHale and Roshan Shah collaborate to describe a prolog program used to solve the problem of optimizing the material and number of cuts for a paper producer |
| Public Domain vs. Commercial Tools for Creating Neural Self-Organizing Maps Guido Deboeck examines existing public domain and commercial SOM software |
| Knowledge Base Management Systems - A Tool for Building Verified Expert Systems Dr. Richard Hicks explains his research into expert system development and how verification can be used to greatly improve the development process |
| Symbolic Knowledge Acquisition Technology: The Next Step In Data Mining Mikhail Hiselev and Sergei Ananyan outline the reasons, foundations and commercial implementations of data mining |
| AI@Work - ANGOSS Software and Dunnings Diversified: Modeling Catalog Mailing Lists; Harlequin Inc. AI Tools Meet CORBA; Salford Systems and Fleet: Understanding Customer Characteristics |
| Regulars | ||
| Editorial | ||
| Secret Agent Man - Mata Hari Uncovers Hidden Information -- A Next Generation Web Search Tool | by Don Barker | |
| Intelligence Files - NASA Deep Space 1; Expert System Group Sold for $35million; Divisions Acquired; Name Changes | by David Blanchard | |
| AI and the Net - Is there a Doctor in the Web? | by Mary Kroening | |
| The Book Zone - Artificial Intelligence: a new Synthesis; Lazy Learning; Introduction to Implicit Surfaces | by Will Dwinnell | |
| Product Updates ----------------------------> | 11 late breaking product announcements from around the world in the fields of: | |
| Announcement/Call for Papers | Data Mining | |
| Fuzzy Logic | Internet | |
| Knowledge Based Systems | Languages | |
| Neural Networks | 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 13.1
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| AAAI | Franz | Production Sys Tech |
| AI Developers | Frontier GlobalCenter | Prolog Devt Ctr |
| Amzi! Inc. | Gordian Institute | Quality Monitor & Control |
| Applied Logic Systems | Intellligent System Report | Salford Systems |
| ATTAR Software USA | KnowledgeBroker Inc | Soft Warehouse |
| BitStar International | Logic Programming Associates Ltd | Sonalysts Inc |
| BioComp Systems Inc | MIT GmbH | Stellar Technology |
| BotSpot | NeuroDimensions | System Dynamics Intl |
| California Scientific Software | PAEXPO99 | The Haley Enterprise Inc |
| DCI | Palisade Corporation | Ultrexx Corporation |
| Emerald Intellligence | PC AI Back Issues | Ward Sys. Group Inc. |
| Flexible Intelligence | Pragmatic Systems | WizSoft Inc |
| As we begin our 13th year, it’s enlightening to reflect on the changes brought about by the artificial intelligence industry. The premier issue of PC AI focused on standalone AI languages. The intelligent tools generated by these languages — primitive by today’s standards — could not interface with existing mainstream programs. These tools required having the data converted into special formats and brought to them. As the industry realized the value of these interfaces, it evolved. It spun-off successes such as the GUI interface (Mac and Windows), object oriented development (such as C++), intelligent helpdesks (a billion dollar business), and speech recognition. A recent AI success story is United Airlines’ use of speech recognition and synthesis to respond to phone inquiries about flight schedules, availability, and reservations. This software even has the ability to verbally confirm the information it is given. In this issue’s “AI @ Work” we include Dunnings Diversified use of expert system technology in predictive modeling while Fleet Financial Group uses data mining in their service support center to characterize customer habits. | |
| Today, AI is more embedded in the major systems we use. As documented in these pages over the years, a number of AI companies have been quietly bought and their technology transferred to existing mainstream programs. This software is embedded in everything from operating systems to financial planning to point of sales to supply change management to process control — and on and on. Many AI companies have become successful in one or more vertical markets. | |
| In contrast to the original intelligent tools, an important feature of today’s intelligent software is the ability to find information by searching existing knowledge bases. The intelligent agent, for example, searches or filters email, computers, a company’s network, or the World Wide Web. AI-based data mining software can analyze and retrieve information from data that you may not even know was there. AI is vital to these applications because they must operate without constant user control and make decisions based on high level, possibly changing rules — difficult tasks for existing procedural programs. AI languages such as LISP, PROLOG, OPSJ, and now Dylan are well suited for this type of development — they’ve evolved with intelligence in mind. Paul Morrow and Michael Alexander discuss Domain-Specific Languages (such as HTML, SQL, or user-generated) to increase programmer productivity and reliability for development and modification of large applications. Michael McHale and Roshan Shah describe the use of Prolog’s abstract data types, control structures, recursion, and backtracking to solve a business problem. | |
| To properly represent the tremendous world of intelligent tools, we cover the gambit from neural network software that appears to imitate low-level functions of the nervous system to expert systems designed to emulate higher level cognitive thought processing. Guido Deboeck covers public domain and commercial neural self-organizing maps for simplifying finance, economics, and marketing analysis. Richard Hicks describes a process and tool for developing verified expert systems for use in Knowledge Based Management Systems. In addition, we offer articles about the languages that enable the building of these intelligent tools. | |
| To round out the issue, Dave Blanchard in the “Intelligence Files” describes the use of AI in a state of the art deep space probe as well as the latest industry changes. In “Secret Agent Man,” Don Barker reviews Mata Hari, a new web search tool. Mary Kroening discusses several medical applications — a great area for AI — in this installment of “AI and the Net.” Finally, I’m pleased to introduce the “Book Zone,” from Will Dwinnell. He presents three books that are helpful to broaden any AI practitioner’s knowledge base. | |
| As we look forward to the year ahead, we wish you all a healthy and prosperous 1999. | |
| Terry Hengl Publisher |
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