The applied AI business: the evolution of applied AI: a report on the fifth innovative applications of AI conference

Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence (IAAI) certainly reflected the current state of the commercialization of AI. A new crop of award-winning applications stood as a testimonial to the continuing inroads AI is making into business, saving hundreds of millions of dollars annually. In addition, attendees were introduced to a number of new AI technologies, such as data mining, that are coming out of the research lab and being readied for use. A new application area, knowledge publishing, came into the spotlight with a Compaq application that has shrink-wrapped its customer-service troubleshooting knowledge for networked printers. It is now shipped with the product and is saving the company an estimated $10 to $20 million annually. Just as help desks were touted as a natural fit for AI technology a few years ago, knowledge publishing is now the next great hope. Each year, the conference offers several tutorials and panels by some of the most famous and experienced leaders in applying AI to solve business problems, but attendance at the conference continues to decline, from 500 the first year to half that in 1993. The number of papers submitted has also declined. Is this decline the harbinger of doom for AI? I think not. I believe it is more a sign of the (downsizing) times and the need for increased visibility for the conference. I saw many good signs at the conference that applied AI is alive and healthy. Winning Applications