577

AI Magazine 

We compare the big problems studied in artificial intelligence and related fields in order to understand some major changes--both internal and external--recently suffered by AI. The comparison finds AI with few problems to call its own, and we identify some further major changes that may occur soon. Work in earlier days seemed heroic, filled with the excitement of being first to discover and conquer big problems, while much work today seems a bland pursuit of more of the same. Where, the old hands ask, have all the big ideas gone? This note attempts to respond to this complaint, for the answer sheds light on the nature of artificial intelligence.