Many human mental activities such as understanding language,

          reasoning, and solving problems, are said to require

          intelligence.  Over the years, many computer systems have been

          built that can perform these tasks.  These systems are said to

          possess artificial intelligence.  Specifically there are

          computers that can diagnose diseases, solve differential

          equations, prove theorems and play games.  Work in the field of

          artificial intelligence has attempted to create an

          information-processing theory of intelligence.  If this is

          developed, it could be the basis for the design of intelligent

          machines and it could also explain intelligent behavior in humans

          and other animals.  An example of this theory is a model

                                                             1K          suggested by Earl Hunt- a distributed-memory model.  This goes by

          the proposition that the brain has several memory areas, the

          purpose of which is to regulate the flow of information from the

          environment so that it can be coded in terms of past experience.

          The information is routed through a series of buffer memories

          into short-term memory.  The buffering process serves to convert

          the message into progressively more meaningful units.  Central to

          this process is the long-term memory in which information is

                             2K          permanently stored.





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            Hunt's model serves as a guide to the construction of a human

          information- processing simulator, with specific computer

          programs designed to mimic specific cognitive functions.  The

          main product of the simulation process may be to test our

          knowledge about man's cognitive nature.  As mentioned before,

          artificial intelligence methods have been applied to various

          areas of study.  The most popular areas will be discussed in this

          paper.





          0.1 Problem Solving
          ___________________



            Calculation was one of the earliest instances of problem

          solving by machine.  In 1642, Pascal demonstrated that some forms

          of mathematical problems could be solved more accurately and

                                             3K          quickly by machines than by humans.  Problem solving in the

          context of AI covers a wide range of topics from finding

          solutions to complex puzzles, to proving theorems and playing

          games.


            There are two types of methods used to solve problems.  One is

          an algorithm which is defined as a procedure that guarantees a

          solution to a given kind of problem.  The other method is a

          heuristic, which is a set of rules or strategies that operate

          like a rule of thumb.  The difference betw