Microprocessors May Find Use With Artificial Intelligence

The Wall Street Journal

August 13, 1982

MICROPROCESSORS MAY SOON MIMIC HUMAN THOUGHT WELL ENOUGH THAT DESKTOP COMPUTERS SELLING FOR $20,000 OR LESS COULD DIAGNOSE MANY DISEASES, PREPARE INCOME TAX RETURNS, GIVE INVESTMENT ADVICE AND SOLVE ALGEBRA AND CALCULUS PROBLEMS. THEY ALSO COULD ANSWER QUESTIONS OR TAKE INSTRUCTIONS PUT TO THEM IN CONVERSATIONAL SENTENCES.

THE MICROPROCESSOR MOST FREQUENTLY MENTIONED FOR SUCH A ROLE IS THE 68010, THE TINY ELECTRONIC COMPUTER THAT MOTOROLA IS EXPECTED TO INTRODUCE NEXT MONTH. BUT THE NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR 16032 ALSO IS IN THE RUNNING. AND MICROPROCESSORS USED IN TODAY'S PERSONAL COMPUTERS MAY BE ABLE TO PERFORM A FEW OF THE SAME FEATS. THE TIMING AND PRICE OF THE DEVELOPMENT DEPEND ON HOW WELL AND HOW QUICKLY SCIENTISTS ARE ABLE TO TEACH MICROPROCESSORS TO SPEAK LISP, THE COMPUTER LANGUAGE IN WHICH VIRTUALLY ALL SUCH PROGRAMS ARE WRITTEN.

LISP HAS BEEN PERFECTED OVER THE LAST TWO DECADES ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY ON DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORP. COMPUTERS. BUT IN THE LAST TWO YEARS, THE DIALECTS OF LISP HAVE BECOME AVAILABLE ON COMPUTERS MADE BY XEROX CORP., SYMBOLICS INC. AND LISP MACHINES INC., AND DIGITAL'S SHARE OF THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MARKET HAS DROPPED SHARPLY.

NOW, LISP IS BEING TAUGHT TO MICROPROCESSORS. AND IF THE LESSONS TAKE, COMPUTERS BASED ON SUCH MICROELECTRONIC CIRCUITS COULD CAPTURE A SIGNIFICANT SHARE OF THE MARKET FOR APPLIED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. ONE CONSULTING COMPANY HAS ESTIMATED THE MARKET'S SIZE AT $5 BILLION ANNUALLY BY 1990.

THE 68010 IS AN IMPROVED VERSION OF MOTOROLA'S 68000 MICROPROCESSOR, WHICH IS FORMING THE BASIS OF DOZENS OF NEW DESKTOP COMPUTERS. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP. AND HEWLETT- PACKARD CO. RECENTLY BEGAN SELLING COMPUTERS BASED ON THE 68000, TOO. AT LEAST FOUR GROUPS OF SCIENTISTS ARE AT WORK ON OR SAY THEY HAVE COMPLETED LISP DIALECTS FOR THE 68000. LATER THIS YEAR, HEWLETT-PACKARD PLANS TO TRY ADAPTING TWO OF THESE DIALECTS TO ITS 68000-BASED COMPUTER.

AN INFORMAL SURVEY OF THE MAJOR CENTERS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH FOUND NO ONE TRYING TO DEVELOP A LISP DIALECT FOR THE MICROPROCESSORS WITH WHICH INTEL CORP. COMPETES AGAINST MOTOROLA. SCIENTISTS SURVEYED SAY INTEL'S PRESENT CIRCUIT CAN'T DEAL WITH ENOUGH INFORMATION AT ONE TIME TO BE USEFUL IN MAJOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PROGRAMS AND THEY DISLIKE THE DESIGN OF THE IMPROVED VERSION DUE FROM INTEL SOON.

INTEL MICROPROCESSORS, HOWEVER, ARE LIKELY TO BE IMPORTANT FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WORK THAT CAN BE DONE WITH 256,000 CHARACTERS OF MAIN MEMORY OR LESS, SCIENTISTS SAY.

SOME, HOWEVER, AREN'T CONVINCED THAT MICROPROCESSORS WILL PROVE THE BEST ROUTE TO INEXPENSIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MACHINES. ONE SKEPTIC IS XEROX, WHICH IS BETTING ON THE SUCCESS OF COMPUTERS DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR LISP WORK. NEXT WEEK XEROX PLANS TO INTRODUCE A LISP MACHINE KNOWN INTERNALLY AS DANDELION. DANDELION IS ALMOST AS POWERFUL AS THE PRESENT XEROX MACHINE BUT WILL SELL FOR LESS THAN HALF THE PRICE.