This is by no means a complete overview of AI. At best I hope I have whetted the appetites of those for whom it is a new topic.
As readers may have discerned, my own interests are mainly in the use of AI to explore philosophical and psychological problems about the nature of the human mind, by designing and testing models of human abilities, analyzing the architectures, representations, and inferences required, and so on. These are long-term problems.
In the short run, my own guess is that the most important practical applications will be in the design of relatively simple expert systems, and in the use of AI tools for non-AI programming, since the advantages of such tools are not restricted to AI projects. In principle, AI languages and tools could also have a profound effect on teaching by making new kinds of powerful teaching and learning environments available, giving pupils a chance to explore a very wide range of subjects by playing with or building appropriate programs. For example, Seymour Papert (1980) and others have suggested that students will acquire a deeper understanding of thinking and problem solving if they are given a chance to `play God' and design working simulations, including simulations of physically impossible processes. (The programming language Logo, now widely used in schools, was developed for this sort of learning experience.) AI programming languages and development tools can be used to extend this idea in new directions: by designing programs that do some of the things that people can do, students can acquire a deeper understanding of issues in linguistics, psychology, logic, philosophy, and the social sciences.
AI may or may not achieve its full potential. Whether it does will depend on social and political factors outside the control of those who work in AI. I am not terribly optimistic. For example, since our culture does not attach much importance to education as an end in itself, I fear that this potential will not be realized. Instead, millions will be spent on military applications of AI.
Aaron Sloman
Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science,
University of Sussex.