Douglas Lenat was a computer scientist and artificial intelligence developer who worked on systems to allow AIs to use “common sense” when parsing data.
- Died: August 31, 2023 (Who else died on August 31?)
- Details of death: Died in Austin, Texas, of bile duct cancer at the age of 72.
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Douglas Lenat’s legacy
When Lenat pursued his master’s in applied mathematics in 1972, he focused on acoustic waves for his senior thesis. He used those waves to measure and then recreate images of three-dimensional objects, developing the world’s first known acoustic hologram. The rest of his career was defined by the search for similar, innovative ways to solve problems using advanced math and computing.
Lenat went on to earn a doctorate in computer science at Stanford University, and in the 1980s he began theorizing that for artificial intelligence to truly work, it would need to be given a kind of “common sense,” allowing it to distinguish good arguments and data from bad. That pursuit became his life’s work, and in 1994, he founded Cycorp, which poured countless hours into developing a set of rules to make AI more human-like. At the time of Lenat’s death, those ongoing efforts had created over 24 million rules to guide the process.
Lenat served on the Scientific Advisory Boards of both Microsoft and Apple, the only person ever to occupy both positions. He also spent time as an assistant professor at Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon University. While at Stanford, he created one of the earliest advanced data analysis systems, Eurisko, a precursor to modern AI technology.
Notable quote
“Intelligence is ten million rules.”— from the 1988 Proceedings of the International Workshop on Artificial Intelligence for Industrial Applications
Tributes to Douglas Lenat
Full obituary: The New York Times
