Don Sumner

Don Sumner has been immersed in the computer technology field since 1968, experiencing firsthand the incredible advancements and the transformative effects they've had on our world. His involvement in the creation of one of the earliest electronic calculators, Point-Of-Sale systems, and UPC scanners highlights his pioneering spirit.

Don's journey has seen him navigate the evolution from mainframe computers to minicomputers and eventually to personal computers. Among his notable accomplishments is adapting the earliest available Macintosh computer to host Compusketch. This was one of the first computerized composite sketch systems in widespread use in law enforcement, and had an architecture of an "expert system". An expert system is an AI program that simulates human expert decision-making to solve complex, domain-specific problems using a structured knowledge base and an inference engine. In this case, the expert system was essentially a fixed, “hard-wired” implementation of the techniques used by a renowned police artist, capturing their decision process in programmed form. As such, it represented a very early and primitive form of artificial intelligence, translating human expertise into a repeatable computational method.

When it comes to today's Artificial Intelligence, Don shares his perspective:

"In my extensive experience, I can say with unwavering conviction that no technology has emerged with the potential to impact the world as significantly as AI. This includes the likes of fax machines, cell phones, the internet, email, GPS, and even companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft. AI will permeate every facet of our lives, and those who fail to prepare and adapt will undoubtedly be left behind."