Larry Harris

Timeline

1. 1947–1970

   A Cornell PhD on language

   Born in 1947, he earns a PhD at Cornell University in 1970 with the dissertation A Model for Adaptive Problem Solving Applied to Natural Language Acquisition. The work studies how a robot might learn a language's vocabulary and grammar by exploring a room while receiving commentary from a human.

2. 1973

   The Dartmouth chess program

   As a professor at Dartmouth College, he leads a team of undergraduates in 1973 to build the Dartmouth Computer Chess Program, which competes in national computer chess tournaments; Warren Montgomery is its primary author. During the 1970s, he publishes on heuristic best-first search based on A* and introduces bandwidth search.

3. 1975–1977

   Co-founding Artificial Intelligence Corporation

   He cofounds Artificial Intelligence Corporation, later known as AICorp, in 1975 and serves as its CEO and chairman. The company begins developing ROBOT, the prototype of INTELLECT, a natural language interface to database systems. In 1977, he is a visiting professor at the MIT AI Lab.

4. 1981–1983

   INTELLECT sold by IBM

   INTELLECT goes on sale in 1981 and becomes a widely used natural language interface for mainframe computers. By February 1983, he is president of Artificial Intelligence Corporation, whose INTELLECT translates an English question into the precise language and commands needed to reach stored information. In 1983, INTELLECT becomes the first software product from an outside vendor to be sold by IBM.

5. 1984–1986

   A book on commercial AI

   In 1984, he publishes “Experience with INTELLECT: Artificial Intelligence Technology Transfer” in AI Magazine, drawing on the commercialization of INTELLECT to discuss how AI research techniques reach commercial products. In 1986, he coauthors the book Artificial Intelligence Enters the Marketplace with D.B. Davis, on the early commercial possibilities of the AI industry.

6. 1988–1990

   KBMS and an IPO

   In 1988, he co-develops the Knowledge-Base Management System (KBMS), an expert system tool that lets an inference engine reason over information stored in relational databases, and serves as its chief architect. AICorp goes public in 1990 and trades on the NASDAQ.

7. 1994–2005

   Founding EasyAsk

   He founds Linguistic Technology Corporation in 1994, which does business as EasyAsk, and writes its EasyAsk and English Wizard products for asking English questions about information in databases or on the internet. He serves on the board of directors of Progress Software from 1995 to 2005, and Progress acquires EasyAsk in 2005.

8. As of October 2026

   Founder and advisor at EasyAsk

   EasyAsk spins off from Progress Software in early 2009 and becomes a stand-alone company again, using natural language for e-commerce search and operational business intelligence. He serves as the company's founder and advisor.