Maes, Pattie

Pattie Maes, (born 1961, Brussels, Belgium), Belgian-born software engineer and entrepreneur who changed the interactive relationship between the computer and its user. Her software creations fundamentally influenced the way that e-commerce companies compete, as well as provided a simple means for individuals to accomplish digital tasks.

Maes studied computer science at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1983 and a doctorate in 1987. In 1989 she left Belgium to study artificial intelligence with Rodney Brooks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Maes began teaching at the school’s Media Laboratory in 1991.

Maes was involved in several projects at MIT. In 1990 she founded the Software Agents Group at the Media Laboratory. Her work there focused on the development of software applications called intelligent agents, which use repetitive monitoring to “learn” from a user. For example, an intelligent agent can be programmed to monitor scheduling tendencies and then perform scheduling tasks automatically.

Maes’s work with software agents also played a considerable role in the growth and personalization of e-commerce. Her software-agent services have provided a form of personalization to online shopping. For example, she helped devise programs for online bookstores that were capable of “remembering” the topic, author, and genre preferences of the individual consumer and of offering recommendations for similar and upcoming books. Her other projects at MIT’s Media Laboratory included the Fluid Interfaces Group, which sought to rethink how computers and users interact.

Maes was involved in a number of business ventures. In 1995 she helped found a Web-based service called Firefly, which offered a way for individuals to develop an online community through shared interests. Users informed the Web site of what they enjoyed, and Firefly would learn individual preferences and then foster communication between users with similar interests; the process was known as collaborative filtering. In 1998 Microsoft bought the company. The following year Maes formed Open Ratings, which offered technology that could track and identify performance patterns of suppliers and then use simulations to make predictions and improve the decision-making process. In addition, the company incorporated rating systems intended to establish trust between consumers and vendors. Open Ratings was later purchased by Dun & Bradstreet.