This book is concerned with three related topics: the field of artificial intelligence, or AI; the skill of computer programming; and the programming language Common Lisp. Careful readers of this book can expect to come away with an appreciation of the major questions and techniques of AI, an understanding of some important AI programs, and an ability to read, modify, and create programs using Common Lisp. The examples in this book are designed to be clear examples of good programming style—paradigms of programming. They are also paradigms of AI research—historically significant programs that use widely applicable techniques to solve important problems.

Just as a liberal arts education includes a course in "the great books" of a culture, so this book is, at one level, a course in "the great programs" that define the AI culture.