The purpose of this catalogue is to promote interaction between members of the AI community by announcing AI techniques available for different jobs and by acting as a pointer into the literature. Thus the AI community will have access to a common, extensional definition of the field, which will promote a common terminology, discourage the re-invention of wheels, and act as a clearing house for new ideas and algorithms. The book should also assist in the maturation of the field by identifying techniques and clarifying its terminology. The purpose of "Artificial Intelligence Techniques: A Comprehensive Cata logue" is to promote interaction between members of the AI community. It does this by announcing the existence of AI techniques, and acting as a pointer into the literature. Thus the AI community has access to a common, extensional definition of the field, which promotes a common terminology, discourages the reinvention of wheels, and acts as a clearing house for ideas and algorithms. I am grateful to the impressive group of AI experts who have contributed the many descriptions of AI techniques which go to make up this Catalogue. They have managed to distill a very wide knowledge of AI into a very compact form. The Catalogue is a reference work providing a quick guide to the AI tech niques available for different tasks. Intentionally, it only provides a brief de scription of each technique, with no extended discussion of its historical origin or how it has been used in particular AI programs. Artificial Intelligence Techniques.
