Abstract

The notion of context arises in assorted areas of artificial intelligence (AI), including knowledge representation, natural language processing, intelligent information retrieval, etc. Although the term ‘context’ is frequently employed in descriptions, explanations, and analyses of computer programs in these areas, its meaning is frequently left to the reader’s understanding. My aim in this paper is to offer a swift review of context in AI. I will first identify the role of context in various fields of AI. I will then consider the enterprise of formalising context. The focus of my discussion will be McCarthy's (1993) proposal – a landmark study that inspired almost every logical theory of context since then – and its close variants, studied by his students. (The author is grateful to Prof. Carlo Penco for his invaluable assistance with this work.)