The take-up of artificial intelligence applications has been much slower than its protagonists had hoped, and the most visible use of it is still within computer companies themselves. DEC was one of the first users, with a system for automatically creating the complete list of hardware and accessories that will be required to meet a particular customer’s order, and now Cullinet Software Inc, of Westwood, Massachusetts has found another such dreary task that can be automated with the application of a little machine intelligence. It has signed with Logos Corp, based in Waltham, Massachusetts, for a program that will translate software documentation into foreign languages for international markets. The company gave no further details beyond saying that delivering high-quality product documentation in native languages has proved an important competitive advantage and that automating the translation process enables the company to increase the speed with which it can prepare products for sale abroad.
