A memorial tribute to AI researcher Jonathan King who died of cancer in 1991.

AI research is conducted at a number of academic and research units at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Some of this research is basic in nature, and some has an applied character to it. This article briefly describes basic AI research in the College of Computing at Georgia Tech.

Case-based reasoning provides both a methodology for building systems and a cognitive model of people. It is consistent with much that psychologists have observed in the natural problem solving people do. Psychologists have also observed, however, that people have several problems in doing analogical or case-based reasoning. Although they are good at using analogs to solve new problems, they are not always good at remembering the right ones. However, computers are good at remembering. I present case-based decision aiding as a methodology for building systems in which people and machines work together to solve problems. The case-based decision-aiding system augments the person's memory by providing cases (analogs) for a person to use in solving a problem. The person does the actual decision making using these cases as guidelines. I present an overview of case-based decision aiding, some technical details about how to implement such systems, and several examples of case-based systems.

A survey of 150 papers from the Proceedings of the Eighth National Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-90) shows that AI research follows two methodologies, each incomplete with respect to the goals of designing and analyzing AI systems but with complementary strengths. I propose a mixed methodology and illustrate it with examples from the proceedings.

This article reports on experiments performed using a black-box simulation of a spacecraft. The goal of this research is to learn to control the attitude of an orbiting satellite. The space-craft must be able to operate with minimal human supervision. To this end, we are investigating the possibility of using adaptive controllers for such tasks. Laboratory tests have suggested that rule-based methods can be more robust than systems developed using traditional control theory. The BOXES learning system, which has already met with success in simulated laboratory tasks, is an effective design framework for this new exercise.

Mark E. Lacy is manager of computational texts will be needed, and hopefully,

Mark E. Lacy is manager of computational texts will be needed, and hopefully,

This article analyzes an attempt to use computing technology, including AI, to improve the combat readiness of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier. The method of introducing new technology, as well as the reaction of the organization to the use of the technology, is examined to discern the reasons for the rejection by the carrier's personnel of a technically sophisticated attempt to increase mission capability. This effort to make advanced computing technology, such as expert systems, an integral part of the organizational environment and, thereby, to significantly alter traditional decision-making methods failed for two reasons: (1) the innovation of having users, as opposed to the navy research and development bureaucracy, perform the development function was in conflict with navy operational requirements and routines and (2) the technology itself was either inappropriate or perceived by operational experts to be inappropriate for the tasks of the organization. Finally, this article suggests those obstacles that must be overcome to successfully introduce state-of-the-art computing technology into any organization.

Mark E. Lacy is manager of computational texts will be needed, and hopefully,