Recursive Reviews Artificial Intelligence, Libraries, and Information Retrieval

Abstract

elements of artificial intelligence and information retrieval. Called "Multivac " in the story (I wonder if the name was inspired by the UNIVAC systems that were being marketed in the early fifties), Asimov's system is described as "a mile-long super-computer that was the repository of all the facts known to man; that guided man's economy; directed his scientific research; helped make his political decisions--and had millions of circuits left over to answer individual questions that did not violate the ethics of privacy." Multivac was capable of understanding and answering what we would now call natural language queries on any topic. The protagonists of the story typed in their questions on a terminal that worked much like a typewriter. Their questions required that the system not only collate information, but also draw conclusions. Imagine a system that could answer a query such as one made in the story: "Why is Trans-space Insurance conducting its Silver Queen search-project to which reference was made in the previous question? " Multivac was not only capable of answering this question, but it was also cognizant enough of privacy issues NOT to provide the information to unauthorized researchers. Multivac was the ideal combination of AI and IR technologies that functioned as an oracle of all recorded knowledge. While no system currently in the works has capabilities even remotely like Asimov's Multivac, computer scientists and librarians have at least begun to take first steps toward the concept. If Multivac is an ideal to aim for, what has been accomplished so far? Is AI technology really relevant to libraries in the nineties or is it just a science fiction dream? To help you answer this question for yourself, this column reviews both selected current articles about AI in libraries and a few basic guides to the field of artificial intelligence