Here is a slim, rather expensive volume aimed at the Amstrad owner with little programming experience (despite the ‘Crash Course in Basic' appendix, I wouldn't advise it for the absolute beginner) who wants to devote his or her time to artificial intelligence. The book looks at the various procedures necessary to develop an interactive program which will simulate intelligent conversation. This introduces string manipulation, data handling, error trapping, flow charts, etc. Sadly, it does not go beyond this point to discuss ‘learning' programs such as Animal, games playing and other areas of A.I. experimentation. Younger readers may therefore find it useful, but I'd advise older and more experienced programmers to look elsewhere to a perhaps less friendly, but broader based study. John Minson, PCW |
