. Ever since Homer wrote of mechanical
“tripods” waiting on the gods at dinner,
imagined mechanical assistants have been
a part of our culture. However, only in the last
half century have we, the AI community, been
able to build experimental machines that test
hypotheses about the mechanisms of thought
and intelligent behavior and thereby demonstrate
mechanisms that formerly existed only
as theoretical possibilities. Although achieving
full-blown artificial intelligence remains in the
future, we must maintain the ongoing dialogue
about the implications of realizing the
promise.1