Fifth Generation Architecture

Abstract

It is interesting to note that the same desire for smart consumer electronics motivated the design of Java.

The Fifth Generation initiative sent fearful tremors through the corridors of power of other members of the G7, the world's richest nations. The reaction was reasonable enough. Expert systems seemed to be the reward of AI research and the Japanese had a reputation of exploiting the inventions of other nations. National industries: shipbuilding, automobile manufacture and consumer electronics had crumbled under intense Japanese competition. Feigenbaum and McCorduck [1984] fuelled paranoia with their enthusiasm for knowledge engineering, portraying MITI's objective as a bid for world domination in information technology. As a reflex reaction to the Japanese threat, beleaguered governments initiated national and multinational research programs to channel research funds into information technology.

During the ten-year period of the project, MITI spent more than 50 billion yen (over $300 million). The research institute set up to direct the project, ICOT (Institute for New Computer Technology), had almost 200 researchers seconded from collaborating computer manufacturers such as Fujitsu, Hitachi, Mitsubishi and NEC. At any one time, there were about 100 researchers at ICOT, almost all under the age of 35. About 75 non-Japanese researchers from twelve countries visited ICOT for short periods and seven worked at the institute for one or more years.