Artificial Intelligence Research and Development

It is almost impossible today to find an economic sector or aspect of society which does not involve AI techniques in some way. This pervasive technology has become indispensible in a multitude of ways, from supporting decision making to managing digital devices such as smart sensors, mechanical arms or artificial eyes. The ability of AI to emulate intelligence in the resolution of challenging problems has placed it at the centre of problem solving in all areas of our society. This book presents contributions from CCIA 2018, the 21st International Conference of the Catalan Association for Artificial Intelligence which took place in Alt Empordà, Catalonia, Spain, on 8-10th October 2018. The book aims to provide a picture of what is being achieved and what is under development in AI today. As such, its contents represent the diversity of approaches and applications currently being researched, but it also presents invited contributions which deal with some of the challenges that will have to be faced in the decade to come. The contributions included in this book are organized under the following headings: logic, satisfiability and fuzzy sets; classifiers, networks and machine learning; data science, recommender systems and case-based reasoning; natural language and sound processing; cognitive systems and agents; and computer vision and robotics. The book also covers a number of current AI challenges and new trends like big data, spatial problem solving, ethics and AI, and how blockchain impacts AI. Providing an up-to-the-minute overview of current AI technology and research, this book will be of value to all those with an interest in the subject.