Artificial intelligence research in Japan

Abstract

The progress, goals and techniques being used in the Japanese fifth-generation computer program are assessed. The research is being performed in three phases: tool building, construction of parallel architecture machines, and evaluation and refinement. The first phase is well under way and has yielded designs for two prototype machines: a Personal Sequential Interface (PSI) workstation and the Delta machine (DM), a relational database machine. Kernel Language 0 (KL0), used for the PSI, is being expanded to KL1. The Mandala language is being applied in the DM. Applications have not received a great deal of attention at the government-funded research center, although the techniques developed are already being implemented in industry for machine and computer design and communications systems. 18 references.