Word: use
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Since at least World War II, Soviet doctrine has placed extraordinary emphasis on offense, specifically on the use of massive tank and artillery formations as well as swift-moving mechanized infantry units. The theory was born partly out of the determination never again to have to fight a war on home soil. While a switch to a defensive strategy could simply signify a shift of resources, with more being devoted to protection against attack, it might also mean that Moscow is determined to reduce overall military expenditures, perhaps as part of Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev's drive to speed...
...experts who believe that a doctrinal change is in the works contend that since 1986, Soviet analysts have largely ceased calling for military "superiority" and instead use such terms as "parity" and "reasonable sufficiency." Other American experts deny that change is in the air. ) Summarizing that view, Harriet Fast Scott, an author and Government consultant on Soviet military affairs, says, "Reasonable sufficiency means whatever you want it to mean...
Their work has spawned a new phase of the great computer revolution that has been going on for the past 40 years or so. Whereas the early use of computers revolutionized information handling, late developments promise to better manage raw computer power and the increasing complexity of modern information technology. For the first time in history, these systems allow computers to deal with ambiguity and questions of judgment that are too subtle for conventional data processing, however powerful. After years of false starts and overblown promises, the new systems, called expert or knowledge-processing systems, have exploded onto the commercial...
Eighteen months ago scarcely a handful of these systems existed in business and government. Now there are an estimated 1,000 to 3,000 in daily use, and the number is increasing by 50% annually. They grew out of much touted artificial-intelligence research into human decision making in the 1960s and '70s. AI thus far has failed to reduce human intelligence to hardware and software. But in the quest to build machines that see, move, communicate and think like humans, AI has produced offshoots with evident commercial potential. Says Herbert Schorr, who spearheads IBM's efforts to commercialize...
What saved the fledgling industry was the discovery that applied artificial intelligence could produce concrete results when properly used. In 1978 the Massachusetts-based Digital Equipment Corp. joined forces with AI Theoretician John McDermott of Carnegie Mellon University to develop XCon (for Expert Configurator), a system to assist salesmen in choosing parts for DEC computer systems from among tens of thousands of alternatives. XCon went on line in 1981, and for several years it was the only expert system in commercial use that companies could employ to gauge the worth of their technology. Today XCon configures almost every Digital computer...