
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 25, 1990                   TAG: 9004250092
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: TOKYO                                LENGTH: Short

COMPUTER, TEACH THYSELF

Ricoh Co. said Tuesday it had developed what the company claims to be the world's first computer chip that, when combined with similar chips, will enable a computer to learn by itself.

The new "neural" chip will open the door to the development of artificially intelligent computers, or neurocomputers, that will be capable of using acquired knowledge to make decisions that they have not been specifically programmed to make, Ricoh said.

The new chip has applications in robots, office automation equipment, consumer electronic products and industrial machinery, Ricoh said.

The neural chips are so called because they function similar to the neurons that make up the basic components of the human nervous system.

by CNB