Conference on Artificial Intelligence: Question-Answering Systems

The last decade has produced several profound and exciting results in computer science theory and application. Some of these results have prepared the ground for disciplines now recognized as significant branches of computer based science: the theory of formal grammars and automatic compiler construction, information retrieval and data base management, the theory of communication and computer networks, and problem solving and artificial intelligence are examples of new computer sciences. In the area of artificial intelligence (AI), theoretical and applied research related to knowledge representation in computers, natural language analysis, deductive inference and automatic learning represent the most interesting topics and promise to become the basis for a new style of computer use. The general idea of this style consists in allowing the user to tell the computer "what to do" instead of "how to do". The computer system in this case behaves as an intelligent adviser and interpreter of predefined rules of the game in any particular problem area. Its advantages over human advisers and interpreters are based on the ability to store and handle gigantic amounts of structured data of which the end user can have only a vague idea. This approach becomes particularly attractive in different areas of applied systems analysis where computer programmed mathematical models give additional analytical power to an "intelligent" computer system. The challenging and promising features of AI research resulted in the organization by IIASA of an international Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Question-Answering Systems in June 1975. This Conference was held in accordance with the long range research strategy of the Computer Science Project and attracted 27 computer specialists from 12 National Member Organizations. Two basic points were discussed: scientific problems and basic results in the development of question-answering systems with natural language input and inference capability, and possible IIASA efforts in establishing an intelligent question-answering system with a data base for IIASA's applied projects. This publication contains papers devoted mostly to the first point. The particular subjects that were covered include natural language analysis, knowledge representation and deductive inference mechanisms. An important practical consequence of the Conference was a proposal from the Conference Working Group to IIASA for the implementation of a question-answering system for data base management at IIASA. Apart from the obvious scientific results, the meeting also helped to establish contacts between the NMO's involved in AI research. Participants agreed on future cooperation among their institutions in various AI areas