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C00002 00002	Mr. Henri de Feraudy
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Mr. Henri de Feraudy
Centre Mondial Informatique
22 Avenue Matignon
Paris, FRANCE

Dear Mr. Feraudy:

	I think you have proposed an excellent research project and
I'll see if I can get some student to take an interest in something
along those lines.  However, I believe it will prove very difficult,
and only toy systems will be produced in the near future.  Don't hold
your breath; even attracting interest in the project won't be easy.
Formalized manuals might have another advantage you don't mention.
namely it might be possible to translate formalized manuals automatically
into a variety of languages.  Your idea has some resemblance to
1970s SRI work on a program that would lead an apprentice mechanic
through the steps of repairing a carburetor.

	I asked Nils Nilsson for references and got the following
reply.

``There are a number of SRI reports that could be referenced, but these
are probably hard to get copies of (I have some).  Otherwise, there is
an SRI Technical Note:  "Progress on a Computer Based Consultant," 
Peter E. Hart, AI Group Tech Note 99, SRI, January 1975.  [I have
a dim memory that something like that technote appeared in IJCAI,
but maybe not.]  -Nils''

	It looks like looking for it in IJCAI Proceedings are your
best bet followed by writing SRI for the report they refer to.

Sincerely,