Stanford University, CA
United States
Research Areas
Computational and Artificial Intelligence, Computing and Electronics, Human-computer Interaction, Logic, Pattern Recognition, Robots
Biography
Nils Nilsson was born in Saginaw, Michican in 1933. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, with a specialty in information theory, from Stanford University in 1958. He then began research at SRI International where he worked in the Artificial Intelligence Center, focusing on methods of pattern recognition. While at SRI, Nilsson co-invented the A* search algorithm and the STRIPS automatic planning system, and helped develop the mobile robot, SHAKEY. In 1985, he became Chairman of the Department of Computer Science at Stanford University. Nilsson has published several books on the field of artificial intelligence, and in 2011 he was inducted into the IEEE Intelligent Systems’ AI Hall of Fame.
Interview Synopsis
In this interview, Nilsson discusses his opinions on, and experiences with, artificial intelligence. He goes into detail on the successes and failures of AI, and how these may translate to the future of the field.