Artificial intelligence is the study of creating human

          intelligence in a machine.  Of course this definition tends to

          oversimplify the realm of this field.  The study of artificial

          intelligence must encompass the study of machines, computers,

          philosophy, biology, and phycology.  Throughout the history of

          man there is evidence of a natural desire to create life.

          Perhaps this desire is a result of the natural desire to

          reproduce.  Perhaps it is just a reflection of man's insatiable

          curiosity which leads him on an eternal path of discovery and

          exploration.  The study of artificial intelligence is the most

          advanced and most organized of man's attempts to create an

          intelligent being.  Artificial intelligence became recognized as

          a scientific field of study in the mid 20th century.  It was

          brought about by growth in the computer industry coupled with a

          new interest in mathmatical logic.  The two main founders of the

          field are John McCarthy of Stanford and Marvin Minsky of M.I.T.

          Both men are still very prominent in the field because even

          though it has grown in the last forty years it still remains a

          very small field of science.  "There are now about three hundred

          individuals in the United States and perhaps another two hundred

                                                         1K          in the rest of the world working to make (AI)."   The problem at

          present is that AI is still such a vast and somewhat

          controversial field that many qualified computer specialists


K          ----------

          1. Philip J. Hilts, "The Dean of AI". Psychology Today.  Jan.
                                                ________________
          '83.  p.  28.



                                        - 1 -










          leave the field to work in the more lucrative commercial side of

          the computer industry.


            To create a computer that displays human qualities such as

          intelligence we must understand how these qualities exist and

          function in humans.  What is intelligence?  It is generally

          agreed upon that the following mental phenomenon are examples of

          intelligence: Thinking, judgement, conscience, belief, reasoning,

          willing, etc.  A narrower definition of intelligence might be

          that "knowledge is the useful information stored within the

          individual, (while) intelligence is the ability of the individual

                                                                      2K          to utilize this information in some goal directed manner."

          Neither definition is completely satisfactory because essentially

          we do not know quite what intelligence is.  It appears that

          making a 'human' machine is contingent upon our understanding of

          what it is to be human.  "Can a machine think?  The

          answer...depends very much upon what we are willing to admit as

                                                                 3K          machine and what we're willing to admit as thinking."     What

          exactly are we willing to admit as machine?  The human body is

          often thought of as a type of machine made up of nerves, muscles,

          and neurons.  However, most people are not quite as ready to

          admit that the mind is merely a machine.  Somehow, our thoughts


          ----------

          2. Lawrence Fogel, AI Through Simulated Evolution New York: John
                             ______________________________
          Wiley and sons, inc.  p.  1.

          3. Pamela McCorduck, Machines Who Think.  San Fransisco: W.H.
                               __________________
          Freeman and Co. p.  330.



                                        - 2 -










          do not seem to be the result of different ele