The author acknowledges the kind cooperation of Professor Aravind Joshi, IJCAI program chairman, in extending the opportunity to produce this timely panel discussion The panelists included Dr Jack Williams. His presentation pinpointed the world forces of change, the government role in fostering efficient technological innovation, and the need to adapt to flexible manufacturing quickly. In discussing the AI industry, he said, LLThere are many similarities between AI and biotechnology, namely, the entrepreneurship and many startup firms, few products yet, but much commercial potential, a shortage of qualified talent, and a potential to create vast social change. The aspects of world forces of change are serious in that they threaten the livelihood of the U.S. economy because 70% of the U.S. output is in world markets. Abstract The consensus of government, academic, and industry leaders widely supports the strategic positioning of U.S. and Japanese research and development in mutually beneficial, two-way flows of innovation This report is derived from the IJCAI panel titled U S and Japanese Cooperation in AI and R&D Opportunities, held August 23, 1985 at the University of California at Los Angeles This panel discussed the sensitive topic of alternatives to nationalistic competitive strategies that have contributed to an extreme trade deficit surpassing $40 billion in 1985 The ideas offered by the panelists shed light on ways our countries' respective scientific communities can blend talents to achieve the best results in reducing trade frictions Each country has designated AI research as a key to unlock years of generations of technology and has directed billions of dollars to fund this development The most recognized projects are the U.S. Microelectronics Technology Computer Consortium (MCC) and Japan's Fifth Generation Computer Project (ICOT).

An expert system used in the control room of this blast furnace controls fluctuations in furnace temperature, thereby saving significant amounts of energy and costs. Representatives of universities and businesses were chosen by the Japan Technology Evaluation Center to investigate the state of the technology in Japan relative to the United States. The panel's report focused on applications, tools, and research and development in universities and industry and on major national projects. JTEC formed a panel of individuals from the academic and business communities to conduct this study. The primary objectives of the JTEC panel were to investigate Japanese knowledge-based systems development from both technological and business perspectives and compare progress and trends with similar developments in the United States. The panel focused on (1) applications in the business sector, (2) infrastructure and tools, (3) advanced knowledge systems development in industry, (4) advanced knowledge systems research in universities, and (5) national projects. The JTEC panel visited 19 sites during its 1-week visit to Japan in March 1992 and conferred with Japanese computer scientists and business executives both before and after the official visits. The panel visited four major computer manufacturers; eight companies that are applying expert systems to their operations; three universities; three national projects; and Nikkei AI, a publication that conducts an annual survey of expert system applications in Japan. This article summarizes the findings of the panel in each of the five areas listed. The panel members were Edward Feigenbaum, Stanford University (chair); Peter Friedland, National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Bruce B. Johnson, Andersen Consulting; H. Penny Nii, Stanford; Herbert Schorr, University of Southern California; and Howard Shrobe, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Symbolics, Inc.). Robert Engelmore served as an ex officio member of the panel with the responsibility of producing the final report. Also present on the site visits were Y. T. Chien, National Science Foundation, and R. D. Shelton, JTEC. The sponsors of the JTEC study defined the dimensions of the study to include the following areas: (1) business-sector applications of expert systems; (2) advanced knowledgebased systems in industry; (3) advanced knowledge-based systems research in universities; (4) work at government laboratories, especially the laboratory of the Japanese Fifth-Generation Computer Project; and (5) the electronic dictionary research knowledge base building effort. The panel was also asked to observe the fuzzy system work being done in Japan, any neural network applications that affect expert system development, and the new national project known as Real-World Computing.

This series will focus not only on prominent accomplishments made in AI research and development but also on AIrelated events in society. As the first in the forthcoming series, this opening article features a historical background and outlines the contemporary AI research activities in Japan. It then highlights some recent prominent results from industry. Finally, a future perspective is given. The history of AI research in Japan goes back to the 1960s.

Computer Corporatiorz of America, Technology Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 Abstract Tsukuba Expo '85 is huge, interesting, and fun. The Japanese pavilions are plush and well-organized, and contain some impressive artificial intelligence demonstrations. The U.S. pavilion is an embarrassment. Tsukuba Expo '85 opened on March 17,1985, to enormous publicity. The New York Times reported that "the budget for the fair is more than $2 billion, and individual companies have spent large sums.

In October 1981,.Japan announced a national project to develop highly innovative computer systems for the 199Os, with the title "Fifth Generation Computer Systems " This paper is a personal view of that project, its significance, and reactions to it. The informatiou available to me at the time of writing (June 1982) is not as complete as I would have liked, a.nd Prcscnted at the Pergarnon Infotcch State of the Art Conference on "Japan and the Fifth Generation " in London, England, 27-29 Septemher 1982 Technical Note 265 I apologise for any mistakes or misinterpretations I may therefore have made. ETL and, in particular, to Kazuhiro includes "expert systems" and natural language interfaces. Thus VLSI technology is to be exploited to build advanced parallel architectures for AItype applications, where the basic machine language will be an extension of the logic programming language Prolog. So logic programming and Prolog play a crucial role in the systems envisaged.

Boston Dynamics makes a variety of robots, including machines that mimic humans and animals, but has struggled to find a market for them. Boston Dynamics makes a variety of robots, including machines that mimic humans and animals, but has struggled to find a market for them. Boston Dynamics products also include Big Dog's little brother Spot, a complex machine that can walk and trot on four legs like a dog. Their companion robot Pepper, hit the headlines last year, after the Japanese robot refused to share whether it held a desire to rule the world.