Founded in 1966, the Center is the source of many seminal contributions to artificial intelligence (AI) in the areas of mobile robotics (Shakey), search (the A* algorithm), expert systems (PROSPECTOR), image understanding (the RANSAC algorithm), information extraction from texts (FASTUS), and intelligent agents (PRS).

Current activities cover most major areas of AI, including knowledge representation and automated reasoning, machine learning and analytics, multi-agent systems, robotics, and image understanding. Application areas include:

• Understanding of text, speech and video for intelligence analysis

• Tracking and activity recognition in video for persistent surveillance

• Knowledge acquisition and query systems supporting a new generation of electronic textbooks

• Mixed-initiative planning and workflow management for military and commercial processes

• Intelligent, personalized assistance for information and task management

• Vision, localization, navigation, coordination, and grasping for mobile robots and human-robot interaction

• Acquisition, visualization, and prediction of biochemical pathways in support of drug discovery and engineering new organisms

Technology developed in the AI Center has been fielded in military applications, notably as part of the Army’s Command Post of the Future (CPoF), and licensed to several SRI spinoff companies, such as Siri (acquired by Apple), Trapit, and FIFO.