There have been few attempts, so far, to document the history of artificial intelligence. It is argued that the “historical sociology of scientific knowledge” can provide a broad historiographical approach for the history of AI, particularly as it has proved fruitful within the history of science in recent years. The article shows how the sociology of knowledge can inform and enrich four types of project within the history of AI; organizational history; AI viewed as technology; AI viewed as cognitive science (...) and historical biography. In the latter area the historical treatments of Darwin and Turing are compared to warn against the pitfalls of “rational reconstructions” of the past. (shrink)

In making a contribution, a person's life gains meaning. A small contribution affects a few people for a short time, while a large contribution affects many people for a long time. Within the framework of an abstract, computational world, a metric on contributions is defined. Simulation of the computational model shows the critical role of gradualness. Gradualness can be supported by human-computer systems in which the computer does the copying and arithmetic, and the human applies a rich understanding of the (...) world. The role of gradualness in the research areas of machine learning and hypertext is highlighted. (shrink)

The conventional approach to developing expert systems views the domain of application as being “formally defined”. This view often leads to practical problems when expert systems are built using this approach. This paper examines the implications and problems of the formal approach to expert system design and proposes an alternative approach based on the concept of semi-formal domains. This approach, which draws on the work of socio-technical information systems, provides guidelines which can be used for the design of successful expert (...) systems. (shrink)