Perspectives on Fifth Generation Co

Perspectives on Fifth Generation Computing
Brian R. Gaines
Department of Computer Science, York University
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto
Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary
Abstract
In 1981 the Japanese announced a program of research on a fifth generation of computing
systems (FGCS) that will integrate advances in very large scale integration, data base systems,
artificial intelligence, and the human computer interface into a new range of computers that are
closer to people in their communication and knowledge processing capabilities. The proposal
was a shock at first but Western research quickly reoriented to match the Japanese program. This
paper considers fifth generation computing from a wide range of perspectives in order to
understand the logic behind the program, its chances of success, and its technical and social
impact. The need for a consumer market for mass-produced powerful integrated circuits is shown
to underlie the Japanese objectives. The project is placed in a historical perspective of work in
computer science and related to the preceding generations of computers. The main projects in the
Japanese program are summarized and discussed in relation to similar research elsewhere. The
social implications of fifth generation developments are discussed and it is suggested that they
grow out of society’s needs. The role of fifth generation computers in providing a new medium
for communication is analyzed. Finally, the basis for a Western response to the Japanese
program is summarized.
1 Introduction: The Shock of the Fifth Generation
The Japanese initiative in 1981 of scheduling a development program for a fifth generation of
computers (Moto-oka 1982, Simons 1983, Fuchi 1984, Hirose & Fuchi 1984) shocked a drowsy
West into realizing that computer technology had reached a new maturity. Fifth generation
computing systems (FGCS) would integrate advances in very large scale integration (VLSI),
database management systems (DBMS), artificial intelligence (AI), and the human computer
interface (HCI) into a new range of computers that were closer to people in their communication
and knowledge processing capabilities. It may be difficult to recapture the shock of this
announcement: it was unforeseen, from an unexpected source, gave a status to AI research that
was yet unrecognized in the West, and proposed an integration of technologies that were still
seen as distinct.
FGCS involved a surprising confluence of features even to an industry habituated to innovation
in technologies and concepts. Computer professionals are part of information technology,
familiar with the computer and not naturally sympathetic to either those who fear it or those who
see it as savior. However, one attraction of the technology is surely the element of surprise, that
each new journal and magazine shows something existing today that seemed to be some years
away. No matter how we adapt to the pace of change, its acceleration always causes it to be a
step ahead of us. The Japanese announcement is the most recent example of such future shock
(Toffler 1970) in the computer industry.