The long road to HAL

One of the most popular storylines in science fiction is the one about the computer that eventually outsmarts its creator. The machine's maker either comes to a sticky end at the hands of his invention or puts it to work in a plot to dominate the world. Professor Nik Kasabov, head of the Knowledge Engineering Discovery Research Institute (KEDRI) at AUT University, has no fears of falling victim to a silicon-based killing machine -- not for another 40 or 50 years, at any rate.