| Greetings,
That one about XSEL for layered products and applications
was specifically mentioned by Jack Smith. He said the salesfolks
are still being inundated with updates on new products and revisions.
They were getting several pounds of information on their desks every
week and not reading any of it. So, DEC started sending it to their
HOMES in hopes that they would read it at home. Not Likely.
He'd like to see a little AI applied to that problem to do what
AI is supposed to do: make life easier.
Dennis O'Connor is still in consultation with Jack Smith on
the five big pushes that the AITC will make, but I strongly suspect
this sales support issue will be one of them.
--------
The one thing that everyone here noticed in Jack's speech was
that he specifically stated that DEC AI should be used for BOTH revenue
generation (customer work) and internal productivity amelioration.
In fact, he mentioned revenue generation first. So, that squashed
the idea that certain managers had been promulgating around here, that
internal projects were our principal focus. Apparently, they are
not. And this statement certainly clarifies why so many groups doing
just internal work here have been scrambling to try to crank some revenue
out of their projects by selling them to customers.
Very interesting,
Dikk
|
| Speaking of revenue generation, have you all seen this announcement on
two new, AI related products. Should make us a fortune! Can you imagine
the sales into anyone writing proposals to the US government for
grants, etc. Seems just like the product set!
Pat
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Subj: New AI based product announcements - DECpolite and DECstretch -FYI
VAX DECpolite
VAX DECpolite is a new layered software product that works in conjunction
with WPS+ to sweeten documents with niceties. Often compared to DECspell,
DECpolite will review a document and make automatic adjustments, as
appropriate. And, like DECspell, you can apply the process to a word, a
section of your document, or your entire document.
VAX DECpolite is easy to use!
----------------------------
All the user need do to run DECpolite is (at the VMS prompt) type:
"Pretty please" <return>
VAX DECpolite will prompt the user for the file name to be sweetened - it
will display the following prompt to the user:
"WOULD YOU BE SO KIND AS TO INDICATE THE FILE NAME THAT YOU WOULD
LIKE TO RUN THROUGH DECpolite, NICE PERSON?"
The user then indicates the file name in the following manner:
"Kind system, would you please sweeten (filename.ext)" <return>
The system replies with:
"IT WOULD BE MY GREATEST PLEASURE"
DECpolite is fully-integrated!
------------------------------
DECpolite integrates with both All-In-1 and VAXmail - if you happen to
receive a VAXmail message while DECpolite is running, instead of getting
that obnoxious prompt across your screen like
"NEW MAIL FROM JONES ON NODE PLEXUS"
your prompt will appear as below:
"SO SORRY TO INTERRUPT - YOU HAVE JUST RECEIVED SOME CORRESPONDANCE
FROM USER JONES. HE IS REQUESTING THAT YOU READ HIS MESSAGE AT YOUR
EARLIEST CONVENIENCE. INCIDENTLY, HE HAPPENS TO BE ON NODE PLEXUS.
ONCE AGAIN, SORRY FOR THE INTERRUPTION. I'LL CERTAINLY TRY TO REFRAIN
FROM THIS TYPE OF UNACCEPTABLE BOTHER TO YOU FOR THE REMAINDER OF WHAT
I TRULY HOPE WILL BE A PLEASANT LOG-IN SESSION FOR YOU. FINALLY, LET
ME CLOSE BY SAYING THAT I HOPE YOU HAVE THE NICEST OF DAYS TODAY AND
THAT YOU WILL CONTINUE TO LOOK TO ME AS A GUIDE AND AIDE DURING YOUR
TIMES ON THE SYSTEM"
DECpolite is powerful and effective!
-----------------------------------
DECpolite incorporates an onboard library of appropriate memo headers
including:
My dear, dear sir/madam: Sorry to bother you:
To my esteemed colleague: Hello, my friend:
Honorable sir/madam: If it pleases you:
Distinguished recipient: Dearest person:
Most cherished of occupants: Lovely creature:
To whomsoever it may appropriately concern:
and many, many more.
But wait! There's more: Another new product from Digital: VAX DECstretch!
VAX DECstretch is a text-enhancement product which automatically expands
text by a factor of 4! Your typical one-page document can be increased
to four pages of flowing prose with DECstretched and sweetened with DECpolite
at the same time! The combined shared directory (RMS-controlled ISAM
subfiles) of wordy phraseology (for the DECpolite/DECstretch combination)
will impress your co-workers who'll marvel at your tact, diplomacy, and
stunning manners - not to mention your astounding long-windedness!
VAX DECstretch integrates fully with VAX DECpolite!
---------------------------------------------------
DECpolite corrects all offensive language by substituting polite and
esthetically-appealing language that closely matches what was in the
original text. For example, if your document were to contain the
following:
"Listen, you ass! I've just about had it with your attitude!"
DECpolite (after one pass only) would coorect it to:
"I simply adore listening to your assumptions! I just can't seem to
get enough of them. Your attitude is inspirational."
By integrating DECpolite and DECstretch, the very same two sentences in
the original text:
"Listen, you ass! I've just about had it with your attitude!"
would become:
"You know, the more I think about it, the more I realize just how much
I adore, respect and admire those remarkable assumptions that have come
to characterize the person that is you. I often find myself in the
situation of wanting more and more of them and, indeed, it might well
be appropriate to say (with an air of confidence, inspired by my
association with you), that I just can't seem to get enough of them.
By them, of course, I'm referring to your aforementioned astute
assumptions. I find myself in the pleasureable predicament of
affirmatively stating that I find your attitude truly inspirational,
motivating, moving, touching, and appealing. Thank you for this and
for gracing us with your ever-invigorating presence."
DECtalk enhancements for "that final touch" of elegance!
--------------------------------------------------------
Now you can truly have the ultimate in EM (electronic manners)! Utilize
the functionality of DECpolite and DECstretch with the already-popular
DECtalk and be able to create, edit, send and deliver multi-houred formal
and perfectly meaningless speeches to all members of your staff.
Look for further releases of these products....some will contain a
voice-messaging capability to allow the final memo to be read in your own
personal voice, with full intonation and spittle accentuations.
|
|
Greetings,
In our last AITC meeting, the following things were discussed.
(The McDermott stuff at the bottom is mostly for folks who've been
following the AITC's research efforts.)
Dennis O'Connor:
Revenue growth will no longer cover our mistakes.
Profits will now come from cost containment and increased productivity.
AI is in the top 7 of investments DEC has made.
DEC higher-ups view AI very positively.
----
Steve Gutz:
In this new environment we should all propose solutions and methods of
generating revenue. Don't be afraid to take risks. But be prepared to follow
through on what you propose.
$100M (Editor's note: this amount has since been cut to $30M) was approved
by Dave Granger to leverage internal applications. Steve will make sure
AI is a part of that.
$100M in embedded AI has been allocated for next year.
He says:
- ask yourself what can you do
- can we sell what you do/have
- people's ears are open to suggestions now
- network with other groups and exchange information
- sell/promote your work
- be available when asked for suggestions
-----
John McDermott:
AITC current AI research focuses on "Programming For Non-Programmers".
A Non-programmer knows
1) task to be done
2) local cues that signal actions
But
he doesn't know how to structure and specify a problem so computer will do it.
Problem-solving "methods" are structures which can be re-used for different
applications (solutions).
Hypothesis1: If non-programmer knows the method by which to solve the task, he
can write a program to do it.
Hypothesis2: If non-programmer can describe the task, a method can be chosen
for him.
An AI program should combine/configure "mechanisms" to build a "method" of
problem solution.
Three Research Foci in the AITC:
1) SPARK - mechanism identification, selection, and configuration based on the
tasks the user wants to undertake.
2) BURN - Knowledge elicitation and encoding tool which asks questions
to instantiate mechanisms so the program can run
3) FireFighter - looks for missing knowledge (missing mechanisms via SPARK) or
changes mechanisms (in BURN). This program not yet begun.
Mechanism examples:
"Differentiation" - recognizes similarities in examples (cases in a training
set) in order to classify them.
"Feature Evaluation" - find past example (the case) closest to your presented
problem
"Quantitative Extrapolation" - calculates the answer to a new problem based
on similarities to past problems.
(Editor's note: I did the Software Evaluation Committee exegesis on BURN
a few months back, when several tools were being reviewed for productization.
I think BURN is a good idea because I like Induction in general. But I
reported that
1) The tool, as it stands now, is painfully reliant on (and bound to) a single
application type (the sizing of computer systems: Selection paradigm)
2) Has no ability to do QUALitative extrapolation (but can handle qualitative
differentiation)
3) As with all Inductive case-based reasoning, you need a lot of examples
to train the system before getting any useful inferences out of it.)
|