[1]Edmonton – Computer games are a major economic force in the burgeoning interactive entertainment industry. In the past, computer graphics was used to differentiate products but 
[2]recent hardware advances have leveled the playing field. Today, the savvy consumer looks beyond the mere appearance of a game to the quality of its content. Artificial intelligence (AI) is seen as the next leap forward in technology, attempting to create game characters that behave and converse as realistically as possible. Come hear [3] how progress in this seemingly narrow topic will impact your daily lives in the not to distant future.
Jonathan Schaeffer is our speaker for this interesting topic. He is a professor of Computing Science at the University of Alberta, and is currently the Vice Provost and Associate Vice President for Information Technology. He is the iCORE Chair in High-Performance Artificial Intelligence Systems.
His Research in Artificial Intelligence is best known for his work on computer games. He is the creator of the checkers program Chinook, the first program to win a human world championship in any game. In 2007 he announced that he had solved checkers! He is a co-founder of BioTools (bioinformatics software and the popular Poker Academy).
Time: 7:00 am to 9:00am Breakfast
Date: Wednesday May 13, 2009
Place: Royal Glenora Club – 11160 River Valley Road Edmonton
Cost
Members of the THECIS Innovation Club [2] or Digital Alberta [1] $36.00
Non-Members $52.00
Students: $21.00