An overview of artificial intelligence and robotics. Volume 1: Artificial intelligence. Part A: The core ingredients

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an emerging technology that has recently attracted considerable attention. Many applications are now under development. The goal of Artificial Intelligence is focused on developing computational approaches to intelligent behavior. This goal is so broad - covering virtually all aspects of human cognitive activity - that substantial confusion has arisen as to the actual nature of AI, its current status and its future capability. This volume, the first in a series of NBS/NASA reports on the subject, attempts to address these concerns. Thus, this report endeavors to clarify what AI is, the foundations on which it rests, the techniques utilized, applications, the participants and, finally, AI's state-of-the-art and future trends. It is anticipated that this report will prove useful to government and private engineering and research managers, potential users, and others who will be affected by this field as it unfolds

Knowledge Based Systems: A Critical Survey of Major Concepts, Issues, and Techniques

This Working Paper Series entry presents a detailed survey of knowledge based systems. After being in a relatively dormant state for many years, only recently is Artificial Intelligence (AI) - that branch of computer science that attempts to have machines emulate intelligent behavior - accomplishing practical results. Most of these results can be attributed to the design and use of Knowledge-Based Systems, KBSs (or ecpert systems) - problem solving computer programs that can reach a level of performance comparable to that of a human expert in some specialized problem domain. These systems can act as a consultant for various requirements like medical diagnosis, military threat analysis, project risk assessment, etc. These systems possess knowledge to enable them to make intelligent desisions. They are, however, not meant to replace the human specialists in any particular domain. A critical survey of recent work in interactive KBSs is reported. A case study (MYCIN) of a KBS, a list of existing KBSs, and an introduction to the Japanese Fifth Generation Computer Project are provided as appendices. Finally, an extensive set of KBS-related references is provided at the end of the report

Social and epistemological bases of technology transfer: The case of artificial intelligence

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This thesis addresses a problem in the literature on technology transfer of understanding the local appropriation of knowledge. Based on interpretive and analytic traditions developed in Science and Technology Studies (STS) and ethnomethodology, I conceptualise technology transfer as involving communication between discursive communities. I develop the idea of 'performance of community' to argue that explanations of research and technology, and readings of those explanations, are sites for the elaboration of the identity of a discursive community. I explore this approach through a case study in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). I focus on what I call 'explanatory practices', that is practices of describing, identifying and explaining Al, and trace the differences in these practices, according to location, context and audience. The novelty of my thesis is to show the pervasiveness of performance of community within these explanatory practices, through showing the differences in the claimed identity and significance of Al, associated with different locations, contexts and audiences. I draw out some of the implications of my approach by counterposing it to a theory of technology transfer as the passing of neutral units of information, which I argue is implicit in a complaint made by Al vendors that the Al marketplace had been damaged by overselling or hype. In particular, I show that disclaimers of hype (more than the perpetration of it) had always been associated with the marketing of Al. More generally, my claim is that it is politically important to understand that neutral information is not available even as an ultimate standard, and that the local appropriation of knowledge is not an aberration to be controlled, but a component of both successful and unsuccessful communication between discursive communities

Expert systems and finite element structural analysis - a review

Finite element analysis of many engineering systems is practised more as an art than as a science . It involves high level expertise (analytical as well as heuristic) regarding problem modelling (e .g. problem specification,13; choosing the appropriate type of elements etc .), optical mesh design for achieving the specified accuracy (e .g . initial mesh selection, adaptive mesh refinement), selection of the appropriate type of analysis and solution13; routines and, finally, diagnosis of the finite element solutions . Very often such expertise is highly dispersed and is not available at a single place with a single expert. The design of an expert system, such that the necessary expertise is available to a novice to perform the same job even in the absence of trained experts, becomes an attractive proposition. 13; In this paper, the areas of finite element structural analysis which require experience and decision-making capabilities are explored . A simple expert system, with a feasible knowledge base for problem modelling, optimal mesh design, type of analysis and solution routines, and diagnosis, is outlined. Several efforts in these directions, reported in the open literature, are also reviewed in this paper

SLEMS : a knowledge based approach to soil loss estimation and modelling

ThesisThesis (M.Sc.E.), University of New Brunswick, 199

An overview of artificial intelligence and robotics. Volume 1: Artificial intelligence. Part B: Applications

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an emerging technology that has recently attracted considerable attention. Many applications are now under development. This report, Part B of a three part report on AI, presents overviews of the key application areas: Expert Systems, Computer Vision, Natural Language Processing, Speech Interfaces, and Problem Solving and Planning. The basic approaches to such systems, the state-of-the-art, existing systems and future trends and expectations are covered

EXPERT SYSTEMS AS AN ORGANIZATIONAL PARADIGM

During the past 75 years a number of paradigms have been put forward to explain the behavior of organizations. These include economic, behavioral, and information processing paradigms. We introduce here an extension of the latter. a paradigm drawn from the knowledge representation and processing procedures used in artificial intelligence

Knowledge-Based Systems. Overview and Selected Examples

The Advanced Computer Applications (ACA) project builds on IIASA's traditional strength in the methodological foundations of operations research and applied systems analysis, and its rich experience in numerous application areas including the environment, technology and risk. The ACA group draws on this infrastructure and combines it with elements of AI and advanced information and computer technology to create expert systems that have practical applications. By emphasizing a directly understandable problem representation, based on symbolic simulation and dynamic color graphics, and the user interface as a key element of interactive decision support systems, models of complex processes are made understandable and available to non-technical users. Several completely externally-funded research and development projects in the field of model-based decision support and applied Artificial Intelligence (AI) are currently under way, e.g., "Expert Systems for Integrated Development: A Case Study of Shanxi Province, The People's Republic of China." This paper gives an overview of some of the expert systems that have been considered, compared or assessed during the course of our research, and a brief introduction to some of our related in-house research topics