A split in thinking among keepers of artificial intelligence

Article Abstract:

Anderson Consulting partner Joe Carter brings latent conflicts about the direction scientific research on artificial intelligence (AI) should take to a head when he presents a speech calling for a greater emphasis on short-term commercial applications at the American Association of Artificial Intelligence conference. Carter tells the scientists that they have succumbed to the seductions of the human metaphor in their research for too long: the idea that AI should strive to mimic the way human beings themselves think. Instead, Carter would like to see them apply their relatively modest successes in this endeavor so far to the commercial development of powerful alternatives to human intelligence. Some academics in the room, vexed at finding their research goals and indeed their entire careers put in question, protest vigorously to Carter's speech.

Management consulting services, Commercial nonphysical research, Conferences, meetings and seminars, Economic aspects, Industrial research, Artificial intelligence, Computer scientists, Research and Development, Economics of Computing, Applications, Conferences and Meetings, Criteria, Resistance to Change, Research Design, Critique, American Association for Artificial Intelligence, Open Research Questions

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Incredibly small box, incredibly large memory: rays of laser light pack bits of memory into molecules

Article Abstract:

Peter Rentzepis, a professor at the University of California at Irvine, has created a laser-based polystyrene sugar-cube-sized device that can store 6.5 trillion bits of data, which is said to be the equivalent of a small city library. Laser beams are used to 'read' and 'write' information to and from a cube of plastic that measures a centimeter on each side. Retrieval time is said to be measured in nanoseconds, so that the device would be suitable for use with high-speed computers. According to Rentzepis, considerable research will be required before his invention is ready for commercial applications. In particular, says Rentzepis, the device's memory retention needs to be improved: it holds information for a few hours at room temperature, though if it is kept cold with liquid nitrogen, it can hold information for months.

Research, Computer storage devices, Lasers, Optoelectronic devices, Photochemistry, Information storage and retrieval, Data storage media, Laser, Laser photochemistry, University of California (Irvine), Storage Media, California, University of (Irvine), Rentzepis, Peter M.

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Growth of Educational Institutions Fuels Hunt for Space

Article Abstract:

In the last two years the amount of Manhattan office space leased by universities and colleges has almost doubled. Even the New York Board of Education is leasing space for a public high school.

Forecasts, trends, outlooks, Facilities & equipment, Colleges & Universities, Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools, New York, Innovations, Forecasts and trends, Universities and colleges, Buildings and facilities, Market trend/market analysis, Office leases, School buildings, Commercial real estate

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