MICAI 2002: Advances in Artificial Intelligence

Arti?cial Intelligence has failed to accomplish at least two highly signi?cant predictions as we enter the new millennium. The English mathematician Alan Mathison Turing predicted that by the year 2000 we would have a machine that could pass the Turing test. The ?lm ¿2001: A Space Odyssey¿, portrayed an intelligent computer named HAL which, among other things, was able to speak and understand English, and even read the lips of humans having a conver- tion. Such a machine would be created, according to Arthur C. Clarke, by the year 1997. We have reached the year 2002 and neither of these two predictions have been ful?lled. However, there have been many signi?cant achievements in arti?cial intelligence and several new challenges are now on the horizon. Two years ago, we held the ?rst Mexican International Conference on Art- cial Intelligence, MICAI 2000, which took place on April 11¿14, 2000, in the city of Acapulco, M¿ exico. After a ?rst highly successful conference, we are pleased to introducethesecondMexicanInternationalConferenceonArti?cialIntelligence, MICAI 2002, which took place on April 22¿26 in M¿ erida, Yucat¿ an, M¿ exico. The main aim of the conference was to promote research in AI, and cooperation among Mexican researchers and their peers worldwide.