Agents '97

 Agents '97 — “About Agents '97”, the conference's own introduction to the event.
Recovered 2026-09-14 by Claude for the APICe Event record.
Source: Internet Archive snapshot of http://www.isi.edu/isd/AA97/introduction.html

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About Agents '97
Computer experts from around the world will gather in Los Angeles to
hear about autonomous agents - one of the most important software
breakthroughs of the 1990s.
Agents are computer programs that can think for themselves - something
that computers have not been capable of since they were first
developed, fifty years ago.
``Autonomous agent technology is an idea whose time has come,'' says
Dr. Lewis Johnson, visionary researcher in artificial intelligence at the
University of Southern California, and chair of the Agents '97
conference. ``People in a number of fields, including robotics,
computer science, and electronic entertainment, all recognize the
need for computer systems that can take the initiative. Instead
of having to write programs to control computers, we would like to
be able to tell computers what needs to be done, and have them figure out for
themselves how to go about it.
We now know quite a lot about
how to build systems that can operate autonomously, and we are
seeing some very interesting applications being developed.''
Some examples of agents that will be presented at the conference:
A space probe from NASA that will be able to plan maneuvers and
experiments without continual control from the ground;
An agent called ShopBot from the University of Washington which can do
comparison shopping on the internet;
Smart animated puppets from Stanford that collaborate with children to
improvise stories;
An agent called Steve from the USC, inspired by the the `angel' in
the movie
Disclosure, which acts as an instructor within a virtual reality
training system.
An agent named Guardian developed by researchers at Stanford and
the Lund
Institute of Technology, Sweden who helps doctors monitor their patients.
"Agents will bring about a revolution," says Program Co-Chair Pattie Maes of
MIT. ``Right now, only a privileged few can afford the luxury of experts
looking after their interests. But there is a straight line from software
we will see at the Agents '97 conference to agents that will give everyone
this kind of
specialist help."
"Agents-as-characters will be ubiquitous in tomorrow's online products and
environments," says Program Chair Barbara Hayes-Roth of Stanford University.
"Instead of wandering alone through today's lifeless web sites and virtual
worlds, we will be be greeted, served, and entertained by synthetic characters.
Like their human counterparts in the real world, these characters will play
their
roles with personality and style."
Agents '97 will also include:
a full program of technical presentations from scientists across the
world;
a day of tutorials, presented by renowned researchers and teachers,
addressing hot topics in agent-based systems;
software and robotics demonstrations, showcasing the latest
applications and tools for building agent systems;
panel sessions, with lively and informative debates on major issues
in agent-based systems;
invited talks from internationally respected speakers.
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