Speakers discuss past, present and future of AI

"The great scientific breakthroughs in artificial intelligence are still ahead of us," Professor Patrick Winston predicted in his opening remarks to Rethinking Artificial Intelligence, a corporate briefing held at MIT on September 24-25. "Assuming that the science of AI is a 100-year enterprise that began in 1950, 2000 will be the halfway point," said Dr. Winston, the Ford Professor of Engineering in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. "Molecular biology reached its halfway point when Watson and Crick discovered DNA. That discovery shifted everything -- it changed the world. About 300 senior technical management and corporate strategists from industries as diverse as aerospace and advertising attended the three-part seminar, which focused on how AI-based systems have evolved, where their impact is felt and what AI means for corporate strategy and revenue. The briefing was held at Kresge Auditorium and was jointly sponsored by the Artificial Intelligence ...