ASEF Podcast (SLO): Prof. Dr. Ivan Bratko [Special episode]

How did artificial intelligence research begin in Slovenia? What was it like to develop AI at a time when computing resources were still extremely limited, and which ideas shaped the development of the field?

In this special episode of the ASEF Podcast, host Frenk Dragar talks with Dr. Ivan Bratko, one of the pioneers of artificial intelligence in Slovenia and an important contributor to the Ljubljana School of Artificial Intelligence.

Dr. Bratko recalls the beginnings of artificial intelligence research at the Jožef Stefan Institute in the 1970s, the first computer systems, and the development of the field in Slovenia. He also discusses the development of the Prolog programming language and declarative programming, as well as collaborations with international researchers that had an important influence on the development of Slovenia’s research community.

The conversation explores a range of practical applications of artificial intelligence – from machine learning in chess to medical diagnostics, where researchers were among the early pioneers in studying cases in which a computer model achieved better results than specialist physicians on specific diagnostic tasks. Dr. Bratko also discusses the use of artificial intelligence in ecology, robotics, and other fields.

The episode offers an insight into the development of artificial intelligence through the perspective of a researcher who was directly involved in its early development in Slovenia. It also explores how early research and ideas helped shape a field that is now becoming one of the key areas of modern science and technology.