Computers As Assistants: A New Generation of Support Systems

Computer systems based on the notion of the computer as assistant have recently become the focus of intense interest. The expanding role of the computer in everyday life and the growing number of untrained users make it necessary to think about new ways of dividing labor between humans and machines. Future systems must take on more tasks and perform them more competently and autonomously than existing systems. If they are to be adequately flexible and responsive to complexity, they cannot a...