Amtrak's customer-facing AI system

Interesting collection of AI Alert topics this time, including Amtrak’s “Julie” - an automated front-end to their ticketing process.

Usability webzine

I’ve long had an interest in usability issues. So, it’s always nice to come across a new resource: user instinct was mentioned in an article on Slashdot. Looks fairly low...

Google rolls out search for scholars

New Google beta service: scholarly search. Seems to work very well indeed, and to provide at least as good a citation search capability as CiteSeer. And quickly too! Impressive.

Metamorphosing robot

A report from New Scientist on a shape-shifting robot that consists of a chain of reconfigurable components. It looks pretty cool: I couldn’t find a video anywhere though (with only...

What future for FIPA?

A discussion is going on on the FIPA lists about what future that body should adopt for itself. There has been a vote to de-incorporate (if that’s a word) from...