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\address 
Dr. John Hopcroft        
Cornell University
Department of Computer Science
Upson Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853-7501
\body

Dear John:

	The proposed organization of the committee seems reasonable
to me.

	Additional people in AI, depending on how many you need,
might include Marvin Minsky, Allen Newell, Nils Nilsson, Woody
Bledsoe, Edward Feigenbaum, Drew McDermott and John McDermott.

	I would like to be sure that the report emphasizes the scientific
results of AI research rather than applications and hopes for further
applications.  To this end, it seems to me that the AI section of the
report might be organized somewhat along the following lines.

	AI science is concerned with discovering the intellectual
mechanisms required for solving problems and behaving intelligently
with limited information and computation resources and with limited
possibilities for action.  Some of these intellectual mechanisms
are well understood and already mechanized, others are identified
but not well mechanized, and still others are yet to be discovered.

	Among the mechanisms that have been identified and mechanized
to varying degrees are tree search, pattern action rules, heuristic
classification, formalized non-monotonic reasoning and representation
of facts in logical form.  The greatest recent progress has been in
the distinct areas of pattern action rules and non-monotonic reasoning.

	The report could go into such detail as seems appropriate in
what these mechanisms are and what has been discovered about them.

	I hope this is helpful.


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Sincerely,    

John McCarthy    
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