Progress in artificial intelligence

When in October 1996 in Cholula (Puebla, Mexico), I took charge of organizing the scienti? c program of the next Ibero-American Congress on Arti? cial Intel- gence (IBERAMIA 98) I bet on a couple of ideas. First, I adopted the spirit of the Portuguese adventurers to get the Sixth Congress on a truly international track. In order to attain this aim I needed to convince everybody that the Ibero- American AI community had improved over the years and attained a very good level in what concerns individuals. Second, I brought my colleagues beside me so that we were able to collect su? cient excellent papers without destroying the pioneering spirit of those who ? rst inaugurated the Congress. Getting together to ? nd out what is in progress in the vast region in which Latin languages (P- tuguese and Spanish) are spoken, attracting others to exchange ideas with us, and by doing this advancing AI in general, is a risky untertaking. This book is the result, and it sets a new standard to be discussed by all of us. IBERAMIA was established in 1988 (Barcelona) by three Ibero-American AI Associations (AEPIA from Spain, SMIA from Mexico, and APPIA from Por- gal), after a ? rst meeting in Morelia (Mexico) in 1986 of SMIA and AEPIA.