Christopher Finch Reynolds

Current Activities

I am currently re-examining a project, called CODIL (Context Dependent Information Language) which was started in the mid 1960s of which appears relevant to the current problems relating ontology to AI. CODIL was conceived as a 100% transparent user-friendly electronic clerk interface of top-of-the-range integrated management information system predicted for the 1970's. The idea was to get away from the horror of black box systems and the approach depended in removing the distinction between program and data implicit in the classical stored program model.

Tasks are defined as named sets (names held in a lexicon) and the description is mapped onto a network where each node represent a set or a partition of a set, and set membership represents the links between sets. The project was strongly criticised at the time because it did not blindly conform to the then current AI paradigm and collapsed in 1988 due to an unfortunate combination of external events, including a suicide.

Information is available on the blog https://codil-language.blogspot.com and it could be useful to store the CODIL ideas further on the form in relation to the construction of transparent AI systems.

Biography

I am Christopher Finch Reynolds BSc, PhD, FBCS

UK citizen, born England 1938 and now living in TRING Hertfordshire

Education

• 1956-9 University College, London: Honours B.Sc. in Chemistry
• 1959-62 Exeter University, England: PhD in Theoretical Chemistry (no computer then)

Positions

• 1961-4 Information Scientist (no computer - in effect a specialist librarian handling correspondence) at the Cooper Technical Bureau, Berkhansted
• 1964-6 Programmer & Systems Analyst at the Shell Mex & BP computing centre at Hemel Hempstead
• 1966-9 Initially consultant working on the plan for the next generation of large commercial management information systems at English Electric LEO Computers. Following the merger to for International Computers Limited I was the project eader for the CODIL project.
• 1970-71 various systems analysis jobs, finally personal assistant (unofficially trouble shooter) to the software manager of the massive Linesman/Mediator air defence project.
• 1971-1988 Brunel University, London - Reader in Computer Science - most of the CODIL research carried out in the period. Officially I took early retirement because of PTSD following a family suicide. During this period I regularly published book reviews and comment columns in the New Scientist magazine.
• 1980-1988 I was a participant in the British Library online publication project and this led to me becoming book review editor on HICOM, a pre www buletin board aim at human comuter interaction.
• 1990-1 CSIRO, Sydney, Australia. Went to design an interactive information site on the latest climate warming research - but it was cancelled (apparently some bright politician decided climate warming was not going to happen).
• 1991 onwards - now officially retired but two main areas of activity|
  • Mental Health - campaigning for better mental health services and on many different committees. This included being a non-executive director on MIND, (one of the biggest UK mental health charities) and governor of theHertfordshire NHS Mental Heath Trust. (For personal mental health reasons I dropped much of the mental health committee work after being affected by another family suicide in 2001).
  • Publishing local history - Includes a full length book "The London Gunners come to Town" and a major wikipedia-style web site "Genealogy in Hertfordshire"