ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º º º What's New with Artificial Intelligence? º º º º (c) 1991 Thinking Software º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ The Personal Robot is sleek metallic blue and silver, and sunlight glints off his bare back as he washes his master's car in the noonday heat. Is there a Personal Robot lurking in your future? Very likely, and when you finally buy him (or her), it will be Artificial Intelligence running on your Robot's onboard 786 computer that will get your car washed and waxed. At your command, he will also clean your house, mow your lawn, or wash and iron your shirts! While you are out for the day! Artificial Intelligence is computer software that allows a computer (or Robot) to perform tasks we would consider intelligent if done by a person. These tasks include giving expert advice, understanding natural language, speaking intelligently and recognizing complex patterns such as handwriting. The three most important types of AI Programs today are Expert Systems, Natural Language Programs and Neural Networks. This exciting software is moving in several new directions in the 1990's: * Embedded Artificial Intelligence - A.I. within otherwise conventional database software. * Robotics - insect like electronic creatures with simple intelligence are being created at the MIT Robotics Lab. * Intelligent Vision - Robot Eyes that can identify various components on an assembly line, for example. * CASE - Computer Aided Software Engineering - using software to write new software. * CAI - Computer Aided Instruction, tutorial software that automatically adjusts to your level of knowledge. There is substantial interest in moving A.I. out of the factory and lab, and into the Office and home. Work Group Software and complex Electronic Mail and Filing Systems are already starting to reflect this trend and become more intelligent. A.I. Visionaries are talking about "Agents", very intelligent PC Based programs that can accept and carry out a long series of complex instructions, and report back to you when all tasks are completed. Some software designers are even experimenting with primitive but fascinating forms of Artificial Life (software that mimics growth and reproduction), and a new field called Virtual Reality. Virtual Reality Software, along with special goggles and gloves, allows you to seemingly enter an artificial world that exists only within the computer, and even move and touch objects that appear in the 3-D view provided by the goggles. The new generation of super high-speed 486 PC's now becoming available from IBM, Compaq, and other compatible builders have become the platform of choice for the development of A.I. Software. Could the 586 PC running at 100 Megahertz be already in the wings? EXPERT SYSTEMS An Expert System is computer software that can solve real world problems requiring logic, decision making and knowledge processing. Expert Systems can also categorize, consult, analyze, and diagnose. These software tools are useful in areas that formerly required a human expert. Expert Systems use deductive reasoning to solve problems that are often unstructured, and would be impossible to approach with conventional procedural computer techniques. You might think that when consulting an Expert System, you ask the Expert System a question, and receive a solution. Actually, its the other way round. The vast majority of Expert Systems in use today ask YOU the questions, and arrive at a solution based on your responses - and the IF/THEN rules in their knowledgebase. Here's a extremely simplified example: EXPERT QUESTION 1: Do you have a bad cough? YOUR ANSWER: Yes. EXPERT QUESTION 2: Do you smoke? YOUR ANSWER: No. EXPERT SOLUTION: You have a cold. If you had answered Yes to the second question, the Expert Solution would be: You have smoker's cough. Naturally, an Expert System that you could question would be preferable, but this has been very difficult to program with current technology, because of the extreme difficulty of programming a computer to extract MEANING from a sentence or question. However, there is little doubt that this will eventually be accomplished, most likely through Knowledge Frames. One large Knowledge Frame project manager likens building Knowledge Frames on a computer to teaching the Encyclopedia to a small child. He has also called the process "teaching by brain surgery", as every single fact, relationship and idea must be manually typed into the computer in just the right way. It is hoped that building millions of linked Knowledge Frames will result in a computer with enough "common sense" to understand and respond to questions. THE DOMAIN OF THE KNOWLEDGEBASE An Expert System Shell is an Expert System minus its knowledgebase and domain. It is an Expert System ready to be taught the rules of knowledge in a particular field. An "Expert System Ready to Consult" is an Expert System that has been given knowledge rules for a specific domain or subject, such as Medical Diagnosis, Car Repair or virtually any organized body of knowledge. Some of the most famous Expert Systems can be found in the area of Medical Diagnoses and Computer Configuaration, and surpass human experts in their specific areas of expertise. In one specific area of expertise - playing chess - a domain specific computer called Deep Thought has won against GrandMaster human players, and most experts believe that Deep Thought will eventually become the world chess champion, perhaps within five years. NATURAL LANGUAGE Natural Language Software is the branch of AI that focuses on getting computers to understand spoken or typed english. English has proven itself as the most useful tool for people communicating with people. It is now starting to emerge as a viable alternative for people communicating with computers. Someday, desktop PC's will routinely respond to our spoken requests with answers in perfectly spoken English - or any other language! There is now software that can speak any file or text screen on your PC, (Monlogue, from First Byte), and software that can type your slowly spoken words (Dragon Dictate, $9000.00). There is also software to automatically translate from one language to another. One A.I. goal is to provide automatic real-time language translation as you speak during a Trans-Atlantic phone conversation. The SoundBytes Toolkit (Thinking Software, $59.95) allows programmers to add Speech to any PC Program. The PC Therapist III (Thinking Software, $59.95) is an advanced update of Eliza, the famous talking psychiatrist first developed at M.I.T. There is absolutely no doubt that Encylopedia sales will soon be replaced by Enclopedias on CD-ROM Disks, with powerful Natual Language software "front-ends" that can accept a school child's typed question, and turn it into a correct search-and-retrieval procedure to answer any question from the Encyclopedia. Can you imagine a child telling his computer to "Prepare a report on the History of Artifical Intelligence", or - more likely - on the Presidents of the United States? NEURAL NETWORKS A Neural Network is a biological model of a human brain, simulated in the binary memory of your PC. It is made up of artificial Neurons, connected to each other by Axions. Each Neuron can have many inputs, but only one output. As a Neuron gets energized by input, it fires, sending energy along axions to other nearbye Neurons. If another Neuron receives enough energy it will also fire, propagating the excitation to others. There are hundreds or even thousands of such Neurons, arranged in layers, and all together they form a Neural Network, capable of learning from experience though a self correcting technique called back-propogation. Today, Neural Networks are the most exciting area in Artificial Intelligence, and these real operational computer models of the brain routinely perform outstanding feats of pattern recognition such as reading scribbled handwriting at high speed with incredible accuracy, learning to identify male versus female faces, and even learning to speak almost without human assistance. There is also a lot of excitement on Wall Street where high level programmers have created Neural Networks that can predict the Stock Market quickly enough to place buy and sell orders based on the Networks output. A number of small companies have been formed around the idea of using Neural Networks to predict the result of horse races and other sporting events based on past history. Some claim that Neural Network Software will lead us to a new "Age of Artificial Intelligence". When the first Personal Robot goes on the market (for the price of...let's say...about the price of a Cadillac or Mercedes...at first...) will its brain be an Expert System, a Neural Network, or Natural Language Software, or perhaps some exotic high-tech combination of the three still to be invented? The Personal Robot has finished washing and waxing the car, cleaning the house, doing the laundry, changing the sheets, and dinner is in the microwave. He stands silent and waiting for further commands from you, his master. He is not tired or resentful from performing the endless tasks. He has been programmed to seem cheerful at all times. So when you finally buy your Personal Robot, don't go treating him like a slave. Treat him....or her...like a buddy. (c) 1991 Thinking Software, Inc. ============================================================================= * * * INCREDIBLE BARGAIN PRICES ON VERY SPECIAL SOFTWARE! * * * Dear PC User, Thinking Software just won The Loebner Prize (The Talking Software Contest) at the Boston Computer Museum for our conversation program PC Therapist III ($59.95), and the media is going nuts. This place is crawling with photographers and reporters from the N. Y. Times, Newsday, and the Wall Street Journal. My wife and kids want to be in every photograph. Tuesday I'm going to be on Japanese TV doing a demo of the program via live satellite feed from a Manhattan Studio. Wow! This place is a hotbed of creative software development, and here's some exciting news about our best products at shareware prices: 1. LIFEPLAN - We've modified our popular Personal Information Manager to use "text files" instead of database records. What does this mean to you? Complete freedom in the way you enter your Goals, Projects, Plans and Things-to-Do. $29.95. 2. MONEYMAKER - This is great for new PC Users. A dozen realistic ways to make extra money with your PC while you keep your present job. Plus tips on buying a Laser Printer, and a compact introduction to the most useful DOS Commands.$29.95. 3. AUTOSYN5 - Imagine if you could take ANY text file, run it thru a program that would find ALL the synonyms for nearly EVERY WORD in your text and automatically choose one, or show the synonmys to you and allow you to choose the best one with the arrow keys. Would you call it AUTO-REWRITE or would you call it MAGIC? An amazing tool for all writers, and we call it AUTOSYN5...intro price just $29.95 4. TURBO EXPERT - Build your first Expert System in one day, gain a real hands-on working knowledge of Artificial Intelligence Technology.$29.95. 5. AUTOWRITER - We now have an additional 800,000 byte text source file for AutoWriter, but you have to ask for it when you order. ($29.95) You'll need a 1.4 Meg Disk Drive, as we only supply this new text file on a 1.4 Meg Disk. The file is full of contemporary quotes and sayings to spice up your writing. 6. PC THERAPIST IV - Adds an animated Talking Head and Voice Synthesis to our prize-winning program. Great for kids & teenages $64.95 +$5 S/h 7. THE NEW PSYCHOLOGY - Our latest creation, a visual voyage into the meaning of life and psychology. EGA or VGA and hard drive required. $29.95. 8. EASY NEURAL NETWORKS - A complete introduction to Neural Networks, with an actual running Neural Network you can train and test. $29.95 Sincerely, Joseph Weintraub President L I F E P L A N "Don't you think its time to get organized?" LIFEPLAN is an easy-to-use planning tool for those of us who need a better way to organize our lives. It is built around long term goals, projects & plans, and Daily Things-to-Do. Other Menu options include Calendar, Contacts, Notes & Letters, Checklist, and Utilities. The Calendar can handle repeating events, and can even remind you the day before. Many PC Users have found the "text files" used in LifePlan more User Friendly than database records. $29.95 (MS-DOS). M O N E Y M A K E R "How to make money with your PC" MONEYMAKER is a thinking tool for choosing a way to earn some extra money using your PC. It features fourteen realistic ways to make money with your PC while keeping your day job. There is a section on purchasing a PC, and a perceptive list of Do's and Don'ts for new PC Users. There is even a quick intro to the most frequently used DOS Commands. An included Expert System queries you about your aptitudes, and then selects the Business Idea that matches most closely. $29.95 (MS-DOS) GIVEAWAY REGISTRATION DEAL <========================> Here's a giveaway registration deal that no rational person could refuse. Register this copy of AI-TUTOR for just ten dollars ($10.00!) and you get: The 32-page Artificial Intelligence Software Catalog which opens you to a whole new world of PC Software. The famous "THINK" Talking Expert System Demo Disk! Contains concise online tutorial on the future of software, plus a demo of a talking Expert System plus sample screens from all our best-selling products our software is explained in detail, with examples of popular programs in each category. PLUS your choice of ONE OF THE ABOVE 8 BEST-SELLERS (usually $29.95 or more)! Choose from: LifePlan, MoneyMaker, MoneyMaker2, Turbo Expert, PC Therapist, Best of Windows, AutoWriter, The New Psychology, or EASY Neural Networks! If this sounds too good to be true, remember we have an ulterior motive. We are sure that once you see our AI Catalog and AI-TUTOR Disk, you'll find a lot of software you can't resist! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you have a printer, press SHIFT/PRINTSCREEN to print this Order Form: ** AI-TUTOR REGISTRATION ** Dear Thinking Software, Please RUSH the items checked below via AIRMAIL: ____ Special REGISTRATION DEAL ($10).A.I. Catalog & THINK Disk ____ MY FREE REGISTRATION BONUS DISK:________________________________ ____ Overseas Airmail Postage $5.00 ____ Overseas Dealer Registration Info Pack $10.00 ____ One more disk at $29.95 (I can't resist)____________________________ THINKING SOFTWARE, INC. 46-16 65TH Place Woodside, New York 11377 ( ) Check here for 3.5 inch Microfloppies Please type or print your Name & Address: -----------------------------------------------------------------------------