Challenge to Artificial Intelligence: Programming Problems to be Solved

Session No. 2 Applications 59 CHALLENGE TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: PROGRAMMING PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED Abstract J. E. Sammet IBM Corporation Cambridge, Mass. U. S. A. This paper is in the nature of a challenge to artificial intelligence experts. It suggests that the techniques of artificial intelligence should be applied to some realistic problems which exist in the programming and data processing fields. After a brief review of the little related existing work which has been done, the characteristics of programming problems which make them suitable for the application of artificial intelligence techniques are given. Specific illustrations of problems are provided under the broad categories of data structure and organization, program structure and organization, improvements and corrections of programs, and language. Descriptors artificial intelligence applications programming heuristic techniques I. INTRODUCTION It has been over 15 years since computers were first used for anything resembling "artificial intelligence". The pioneering work of Newell, Shaw, and Simon on proving theorems in the propositional calculus is so well known as not to need discussion for the people knowledgeable in the field of artificial intelligence.