Customer Reviews

Blackboard Systems (The Insight Series in Artificial Intelligence)

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While the text is now 19 years old, the broad outlines of AI systems that it describes is still largely germane. Certainly, it also gives a good summary of AI understanding from 1988.

The book should be placed in the context of its time. There were numerous AI startups in the mid to late 80s. Centred on Boston and Silicon Valley. In part this was inspired by the 4th generation computing projects in Japan and by emulations of these in the US. Where the US government was worried that the Japanese might make huge breakthroughs in this field. Thus, the government funded a bunch of AI startups, and venture capitalists were thus also prodded into doing so.

Of the topics raised in the book, there were no striking revelations or breakthroughs in subsequent years. The case studies cited may well have developed into sophisticated databases and rule engines. But the real innovations in computing were just 2-3 years after the book, in the rise of the Web.