Slovenian Artificial Intelligence Society

The Slovenian Artificial Intelligence Society (SLAIS; Slovene: Slovensko društvo za umetno inteligenco) is a voluntary professional association of researchers and practitioners in artificial intelligence in Slovenia. It was founded in 1992 and is a member society of EurAI, the European Association for Artificial Intelligence (formerly ECCAI). The society's stated purpose is to promote theoretical and applied research in AI and to support the transfer of AI technology into industrial and commercial environments. SLAIS draws most of its members from Slovenian universities and research institutes, with additional members from industry and commercial organizations. Its membership is around 130. The society covers virtually the whole range of AI topics as well as some other areas of computer science. It cooperates closely with institutions where most of its members work, including the Jožef Stefan Institute (Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Department of Knowledge Technologies, Department of Intelligent Systems), the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Computer and Information Science (Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Laboratory for Cognitive Modeling, Bioinformatics Laboratory), the University of Maribor (Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering), the University of Nova Gorica (Centre for Systems and Information Technologies), and the National Institute of Chemistry. SLAIS and its members organize and contribute to a range of AI-related activities. These include the biannual BIOMA conference (Bioinspired Optimization Methods and Their Applications) in Ljubljana, the annual Electrotechnical and Computer Science Conference in Portorož, the Informatica journal published by Slovenian Society Informatika with SLAIS support, the annual Information Society multiconference in Ljubljana (particularly its Intelligent Systems track), and the Solomon seminars. Members have also been involved in the Videolectures web portal and in organizing events such as the ECML/PKDD 2009 international conference on Bled. The society has been led by a series of prominent Slovenian AI researchers. Past presidents include Ivan Bratko (1992–96), Bogdan Filipič (1996–98), Matjaž Gams (1998–2002), Nikola Guid (2002–06), and Marko Bohanec (2006–10). The current president is Dunja Mladenić, with Marko Bohanec as vice-president and Gregor Leban as secretary. Three SLAIS members have received ECCAI Fellow awards for outstanding achievements in AI: Ivan Bratko (2001), Nada Lavrač (2007), and Sašo Džeroski (2008). Two members have received the ECCAI AI Dissertation Award: Dorian Šuc (2001) and Aleks Jakulin (2005). As a professional society rather than a commercial enterprise, SLAIS operates as a non-profit membership organization. Its activities are centered on research promotion, knowledge exchange, conference and journal organization, and strengthening links between academic AI research and Slovenian industry.

Artificial intelligence research in Slovenia began in 1972 at the Computer Science Department of the Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI) in Ljubljana, and later at the Faculty of Computer and Information Science (FRI) of the University of Ljubljana. At JSI, the AI Group was formally founded in 1979 and reorganized into the AI Laboratory in 1985. At FRI, the AI Laboratory was founded in 1981. Both research groups were led by Professor Ivan Bratko and cooperated closely. Against this backdrop of growing AI research activity, the Slovenian Artificial Intelligence Society (SLAIS) was founded in 1992 as a voluntary association of researchers and practitioners. It became a member society of the European Coordinating Committee for Artificial Intelligence (ECCAI), now EurAI. The society's purpose was to promote theoretical and applied AI research and to facilitate the transfer of AI technology to industry. In 1995, JSI's Department of Intelligent Systems was established by merging the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and the Language and Speech Technology Laboratory. In 2004, the former JSI Department of Intelligent Systems and the Computer Technologies Laboratory were reorganized into two new departments: the Department of Knowledge Technologies (head: Nada Lavrač) and the Department of Intelligent Systems (head: Matjaž Gams). At FRI, in addition to the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (head: Ivan Bratko), two new laboratories were formed: the Laboratory for Cognitive Modeling in 2001 (head: Igor Kononenko) and the Bioinformatics Laboratory in 2010 (head: Blaž Zupan). In 2011, a new research group was formed at JSI: the AI Laboratory (head: Dunja Mladenić), which was constituted as a Department for Artificial Intelligence in 2020. In 2021, the leadership of the Department of Knowledge Technologies at JSI was transferred from Nada Lavrač to Sašo Džeroski. SLAIS has been led by a succession of prominent researchers: Ivan Bratko (1992–96), Bogdan Filipič (1996–98), Matjaž Gams (1998–2002), Nikola Guid (2002–06), and Marko Bohanec (2006–10). The current president is Dunja Mladenić, with Marko Bohanec as vice-president and Gregor Leban as secretary. The society has around 130 members, most from universities and research institutes, with some from industry. Throughout its history, SLAIS and its members have organized and supported numerous AI-related activities, including the biannual BIOMA conference, the annual Electrotechnical and Computer Science Conference in Portorož, the Information Society multiconference in Ljubljana, the Solomon seminars, and the Videolectures web portal. Members were also involved in organizing the ECML/PKDD 2009 conference on Bled. The society supports the Informatica journal, published by Slovenian Society Informatika. Three members have received ECCAI Fellow awards (Ivan Bratko, 2001; Nada Lavrač, 2007; Sašo Džeroski, 2008), and two have received the ECCAI AI Dissertation Award (Dorian Šuc, 2001; Aleks Jakulin, 2005).

• 2009

  SLAIS members help organize ECML/PKDD 2009 conference on Bled.

• 2008

  Sašo Džeroski receives ECCAI Fellow award.

• 2007

  Nada Lavrač receives ECCAI Fellow award.

• 2006

  Marko Bohanec becomes president (2006–10).

• 2005

  Aleks Jakulin receives ECCAI AI Dissertation Award.

• 2002

  Nikola Guid becomes president (2002–06).

• 2001

  Ivan Bratko receives ECCAI Fellow award.

• 2001

  Dorian Šuc receives ECCAI AI Dissertation Award.

• 1998

  Matjaž Gams becomes president (1998–2002).

• 1996

  Bogdan Filipič becomes president (1996–98).

• 1992

  SLAIS founded as a voluntary association of AI researchers and practitioners in Slovenia.

• 1992

  Ivan Bratko becomes founding president (1992–96).

Slovenia's national professional society for artificial intelligence, bridging academic research and industry.

• BIOMA conference

  Biannual conference on Bioinspired Optimization Methods and Their Applications, held in Ljubljana.

• Information Society multiconference

  Annual multiconference in Ljubljana, particularly the Intelligent Systems track.

• Electrotechnical and Computer Science Conference

  Annual conference in Portorož, Slovenia.

• Informatica journal

  International journal published by Slovenian Society Informatika, supported by SLAIS.

• Solomon seminars

  Seminars organized with SLAIS participation.

• Videolectures web portal

  Online portal for video lectures, supported by SLAIS members.

1. 1SLAIS | Slovenian Artificial Intelligence Societyslais.ijs.si
2. 2History of AI in Slovenia | SLAISslais.ijs.si
3. 3Slovenian Artificial Intelligence Society - Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4Slovensko društvo za umetno inteligenco - Wikipediasl.wikipedia.org