SELLING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Artificial intelligence, the science of making computers ''think,'' has long been the preserve of theoreticians who were little concerned with practical applications. ''When they said'real things,' they meant computers that can play chess,'' said Dr. Roger Schank, chairman of the computer science department at Yale University. ''They were not going to talk to Wall Street, let alone own a suit.'' Now, however, business is taking an interest in artificial intelligence, or A.I., and some professors, such as Dr. Schank, are forming or joining companies to capitalize on the expected boom. But the new move toward commercialization is disrupting the academic community and provoking fears that university research will be hurt.