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→27 July 1975

Academician A. I. Berg
Council for Cybernetics
USSR Academy of Sciences
113333, 40 Vavilov Street
Moscow V-333, USSR

Dear Academician Berg:
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	We were disturbed to read in the %2New York Times%1 that Dr.
Alexander Lerner, one of the Soviet participants in a panel on
%2Cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence%1 at the Fourth International
Conference on Artificial Intelligence would not be allowed to attend
the Conference in Tblisi, September 3-8.  We were relieved to hear
from Dr. Victor Briabrin and Dr. V. L. Stefanuk,
two of the Soviet organizers of the Conference,
that the %2New York Times%1 article was incorrect.

	Some of our colleagues have taken the %2New York Times%1 article
as evidence that the Soviet Union does not accept the International
Conference of Scientific Unions statement on international conferences
and have proposed moving the conference from the Soviet Union even
at this late date and have advocated that foreign scientists not attend.
We, a majority of the Conference Committee,
%3have not%1 accepted this view and are proceeding with our plans
to come to Tblisi as scheduled.
We have also urged those colleagues who have asked us our opinion of
the enclosed letter from our colleague Professor Minker to come to
Tblisi.

	However, we feel strongly about Dr. Lerner's right to attend
the conference and the other attendees' right to hear what he has to
say.  We are agreed among ourselves, and have informed
those colleagues who have asked our opinion, that there will be
a public protest at the Conference in Tblisi if Dr. Lerner is not
allowed to take part.  We have not publicized this
commitment, and probably nothing about it will appear in the newspapers
unless this public protest eventuates.

	We are all looking forward to a successful Conference and meeting our
Soviet colleagues working in artificial intelligence.  

Sincerely,
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Professor Max Clowes \Mr. Lester Earnest \Professor Pat Hayes
Past General Chairman \Secretary-Treasurer \Committee Member



Professor Carl Hewitt \Professor John McCarthy \Professor Marvin Minsky 
Asst. Program Chairman \Committee Member \Committee Member



Professor Erik Sandewall \Professor Patrick Winston
General Chairman \Program Chairman