Reflections on the First AAAI Conference

Abstract

The AAAI conference instantly became the preeminent artificial intelligence conference in the United States. This success was directly attributable to the need that AAAI filled by providing an annual conference when the field was blossoming. Raj Reddy's impetus crystallized the formation of AAAI, and this banding together spread throughout the AI community to the program committe and the authors and speakers of the first conference. Everyone in the community wanted to make this conference (and through it AAAI) a success -- and through their shared good will and effort, they did. My reflections conclude with a forensic examination of Raj's legendary Hug.