History of Artificial Intelligence in Slovenia

Research Organisations

Research in Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Slovenia started in 1972 at the Computer Science Department of the Jozef Stefan Institute (JSI) in Ljubljana, and later also at the Faculty of Computer and Information Science (FRI), University of Ljubljana. At JSI, the AI Group was formally founded in 1979 and reorganised into the AI Laboratory in 1985. In 1995, the Department of Intelligent Systems was established by merging Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and Language and Speech Technology Laboratory. At FRI, the AI Laboratory was founded in 1981. Both research groups (at JSI and FRI) were lead by Professor Ivan Bratko and closely cooperated.

Both groups were successful and grew in terms of achievements, employed and newly trained researchers, international collaborations and projects. This required further reorganisations. In 2004, the former JSI Department of Intelligent Systems and Computer Technologies Laboratory were reorganised into two new departments: Department of Knowledge Technologies (head: Nada Lavrač) and Department of Intelligent Systems (head: Matjaž Gams). At FRI, in addition to the former Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (head: Ivan Bratko), two new laboratories were formed: Laboratory for Cognitive Modeling in 2001 (head: Igor Kononenko) and Bioinformatics Laboratory in 2010 (head: Blaž Zupan).

In addition to the work done at JSI and FRI, AI research is also carried out at some other institutions, most notably the National Institute of Chemistry, Ljubljana, and the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maribor.

According to SICRIS (SlovenIan Current Research Information System), there are now more than 30 research groups in Slovenia whose research is related to AI.

Slovenian AI researchers and practitioners are associated in SLAIS (SLovenian Artificial Intelligence Society). SLAIS was founded in 1992 and is a member society of ECCAI (European Coordinating Committee for Artificial Intelligence). Currently, SLAIS has about 120 members.

Research Areas

Initially, AI research in Slovenia was concerned with heuristic search, including knowledge-based approaches to computer chess. The emphasis then gradually shifted and expanded to the areas of machine learning, knowledge representation, computer-aided multi-attribute decision making, qualitative reasoning and modelling, and combinatorial optimisation. This provided a solid basis for later application projects. In 1982, the development and implementation of AI tools started and soon resulted in practical applications in a number of domains including: financial, management, project/enterprise assessment, metallurgy, geology, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, medicine and health-care. Most of these applications were based on Assistant Professional, an inductive learning system, and DEX, a computer-aided decision making system. Later, several other systems were devolped including GINESYS, RETIS, LINUS, m-FOIL. These systems implement various approaches to machine learning: attribute-based learning, regression tree learning and inductive logic programming.

In the 1990's, the Slovenian AI research further expanded and diversified, addressing the main research areas:

• machine learning
• inductive logic programming
• evolutionary computing, genetic algorithms
• expert systems
• decision support
• human language technologies
• speech synthesis
• behavioral cloning
• cognitive modelling
• explorative data analysis
• data mining
• text, web and multimedia mining
• semantic web technologies
• knowledge management

A notable aspect of much of this research is its application to problems in many areas, including: mechanical engineering, telecommunication, management, economy, ecology, biology, medicine, health care, agriculture, digital libraries, cultural heritage, e-government, e-business and e-learning.

Also, a considerable part of the Slovenian AI research takes place in the international context and involves numerous collaborations with international organisations and projects. First official Slovenian collaborations occured in the context of European ESPRIT projects: ESPRIT II (1990) and ESPRIT III (1993). Some other early projects include ILPNET and Multext-East (1995-1998). In 2000, the JSI Department of Intelligent Systems succeeded with the proposal of Sol-EU-Net, a European 5th Framework Programme project, which JSI coordinated 2000-2003. Since then, the Slovenian activity in projects financed by the European Union has increased considerably, so that Slovenian research organisations have become regular partners in European 6th (2002-2006) and 7th (2007-2013) Framework Programmes.

Achievements

[UNDER CONSTRUCTION] Suggestions for improvements are welcome

Books

Slovenian AI researchers have authored and edited numerous scientific books:

• Ivan Bratko: Prolog Programming for Artificial Intelligence, Addison-Wesley, 1986; second edition 1990; third edition Addison-Wesley/Pearson Education 2001
• Ivan Bratko, Nada Lavrač (eds.): Progress in Machine Learning: Proc. 2nd European Working Session on Learning (EWSL 87), Bled 1987, Sigma, 1987
• Igor Kononenko, Nada Lavrač: Prolog Through Examples: A Practical Programming Guide, Sigma, 1988
• Ivan Bratko, Igor Mozetič, Nada Lavrač: KARDIO - A Study in Deep and Qualitative Knowledge for Expert Systems, MIT Press, 1989
• Sašo Džeroski, Nada Lavrač: Inductive Logic Programming:Techniques and Applications, Ellis Horwood, 1994
• Nada Lavrač, Stefan Wrobel (eds.): Machine Learning: Proceedings of the 8th European Conference on Machine Learning, Heraclion, Crete, Springer, 1995
• Nada Lavrač (ed.): Računalniska analiza medicinskih podatkov, Zbornik, Bled 1995, IJS Scientific Publishing, 1995
• Nada Lavrač, Elpida Keravnou, Blaž Zupan (eds.): Proc. of the First Int. Workshop on Intelligent Data Analysis in Medicine and Pharmacology (IDAMAP-96), Budapest, 1996
• Nada Lavrač, Sašo Džeroski (eds.): Inductive Logic Programming: Proc. of the 7th Int. Workshop, Prague, Springer, 1997
• Nada Lavrač, Elpida Keravnou, Blaž Zupan: Intelligent Data Analysis in Medicine and Pharmacology, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997
• Ryszard S. Michalski, Ivan Bratko, Miroslav Kubat (eds.): Machine Learning and Data Mining: Methods and Applications, Wiley, 1998
• Ivan Bratko, Sašo Džeroski (eds.): Machine Learning: Proc. 16th Int. Conference, Bled 1999, Morgan Kaufmann, 1999
• Sašo Džeroski, Peter Flach (eds.): Inductive Logic Programming: Proc. 9th Int. Workshop ILP-99, Bled 1999, Springer, 1999
• James Cussens, Sašo Džeroski (eds.): Learning Language in Logic, Springer, 2000
• Nada Lavrač, Silvia Miksch, Branko Kavšek (eds.): Proceedings of the Fifth International Workshop on Intelligent Data Analysis in Medicine and Pharmacology (IDAMAP-2000), 2000
• Sašo Džeroski, Nada Lavrač (eds.): Relational Data Mining, Springer, 2001
• Matjaž Gams: Weak intelligence: Through the principle and paradox of multiple knowledge, Nova Science, 2001
• Eva Jereb, Marko Bohanec, Vladislav Rajkovič: DEXi - Računalniški program za večparametrsko odločanje (DEXi – A Computer Program for Multi-Attribute Decision Making), Založba Moderna organizacija, 2003
• Nada Lavrač, Dragan Gamberger, Hendrik Blockeel, Ljupčo Todorovski (eds.): Machine Learning: Proceedings of the 14th European Conference on Machine Learning, Springer, 2003
• Nada Lavrač, Dragan Gamberger, Hendrik Blockeel, Ljupčo Todorovski (eds.): Knowledge Discovery in Databases: Proceedings of the 7th European Conference on Principles and Practice of Knowledge Discovery in Databases, Springer, 2003
• Dunja Mladenič, Nada Lavrač, Marko Bohanec, Stephen Moyle (eds.): Data Mining and Decision Support: Integration and Collaboration, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003
• Igor Kononenko: Strojno učenje, Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za računalništvo in informatiko, 2005
• Craig Saunders, Marko Grobelnik, Steve Gunn, John Shawe-Taylor (eds.): Subspace, Latent Structure and Feature Selection: Statistical and Optimization Perspectives Workshop, SLSFS 2005 Bohinj, Springer 2005, Springer, 2006
• Ljupčo Todorovski, Nada Lavrač, Klaus P. Jantke (eds.): Discovery Science (Proc. 9th Int. Conf. DS 2006, Barcelona, Spain), Springer, 2006
• Markus Ackermann, Bettina Berendt, Marko Grobelnik, Dunja Mladenić et al. (eds.): Semantics, Web and Mining: Joint Int. Workshop, EWMF 2005 / KDO 2005, Porto, Portugal Springer, 2007
• Michael R. Berthold, John Shawe-Taylor, Nada Lavrač (eds.): Advances in Intelligent Data Analysis VII (Proc. 7th Int. Symposium on Intelligent Data Analysis, IDA 2007, Ljubljana, Slovenia), Springer, 2007
• Marko Bohanec: Odločanje in modeli, DMFA–založništvo, 2007
• Sašo Džeroski, Ljupčo Todorovski (eds.): Computational Discovery of Scientific Knowledge, Springer, 2007
• Sašo Džeroski, Jam Struyf (eds.): Knowledge Discovery in Inductive Databases: 5th Int. Workshop KDID 2006, Berlin, Springer, 2007
• Nikola Guid, Damjan Strnad: Umetna inteligenca, Univerza v Mariboru, Fakulteta za elektrotehniko, računalništvo in informatiko, 2007
• Igor Kononenko, Matjaž Kukar: Machine learning and data mining: Introduction to principles and algorithms, Horwood Publishing, 2007
• John Davies, Marko Grobelnik, Dunja Mladenic (eds.): Semantic Knowledge Management: Integrating Ontology Management, Knowledge Discovery, and Human Language Technologies, Springer, 2008
• Andrej Ule, Olga Markič, Urban Kordeš (ur.): Konteksti odločanja, Aristej, 2010

Software

The Slovenian AI research has also produced a number software programs, spanning from research prototypes to application programs and general software tools:

Web Portals

Videolectures

nl.ijs.si services

Organised Events

The following AI related international meetings were organised in Slovenia:

• ISSEK (International School for the Synthesis of Expert Knowledge) Workshops at Bled in 1984, 1986 and 1992
• EWSL 1987, European Working Session on Learning, Bled, 1987
• COST-13 Workshop on Qualitative Modelling, Ljubljana, 1987
• ILP 1993, Third Inductive Logic Programming Workshop, Bled, 1993
• CADAM 95, Računalniška analiza medicinskih podatkov, Bled, 1995
• AIRTC 1995, IFAC International Workshop on Artificial intelligence in Real-Time Control, Bled, 1995
• ICML 1999, International Conference on Machine Learning, Bled, 1999
• ACAI 2005, Advanced Course on Knowledge Technologies, Ljubljana, 2005
• IDA 2007, The 7th International Symposium on Intelligent Data Analysis, Ljubljana
• QR 2009, 23rd Annual Workshop on Qualitative Reasoning, Ljubljana, 2009
• MLSB 2009, Third International Workshop on Machine Learning in Systems Biology, Ljubljana, 2009
• ACTIVE 2009, 1st ACTIVE Summer School on Advanced Technologies for a Knowledge-Powered Enterprise, Bled, 2009
• ECML/PKDD 2009, European Conference on Machine Learning and Principles and Practice of Knowledge Discovery in Databases, Bled, 2009