Robert L. Simpson Jr. (July 28, 1946 – December 26, 2020) was an American computer scientist specializing in applied artificial intelligence. He served as chief scientist at Applied Systems Intelligence, Inc. (ASI), where he led the development of the company's core technology, PreAct. ASI later rebranded as Veloxiti Inc.

Simpson served in the United States Air Force (USAF), retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1990. From 1985 to 1990, he was the Program Manager for Machine Intelligence at DARPA. In this capacity, he managed research investments for the Strategic Computing Program, overseeing developments in knowledge-based systems, automated planning and machine learning. His work during this era was documented in an oral history recorded by the IT History Society.

Simpson's research career included significant roles in government, academia, and the private sector. Simpson is recognized for his early contributions to Case-based reasoning, having become the first student to receive a Ph.D. under Janet Kolodner at the Georgia Tech Department of Information and Computer Science in 1985. At the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), he served as a principal research scientist. His work at GTRI included co-leading an ARDA-funded project, "Case-Based Reasoning for Knowledge Discovery", which sought to model the implicit processes used by intelligence analysts. He also conducted studies on Internet Voting, focusing on the technical and policy implications of data privacy and security.

As a principal investigator at IET, Simpson managed a DARPA project evaluating cognitive systems for the Personalized Assistants that Learn program. He also worked on the DARPA Fast Connectivity for Coalition and Agents Project (FastC2AP), which demonstrated the use of agent-based technology for interoperability in military architectures.

During a ten-year tenure at NCR Corporation, Simpson was a member of the Corporate Technology staff and director of the Human Interface Technology Center (HITC). His work at the HITC focused on intelligent software agents, image understanding and spoken language. While at NCR, he served on the Privacy Steering Committee and represented the company on the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Privacy Outreach Committee. He also contributed to the establishment of the International Security Trust and Privacy Alliance. During this period, he secured research and development contracts from DARPA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Simpson's early research in the 1980s focused on case-based reasoning and artificial intelligence applications, beginning with the 1984 conference paper "Experience and Problem Solving: A Framework" co-authored with J. Kolodner. In 1985, Simpson authored the Georgia Institute of Technology technical report "A Computer Model of Case-Based Reasoning in Problem Solving: An Investigation in the Domain of Dispute Mediation" and collaborated with Kolodner and K. Sycara on "A Process Model of Case-Based Reasoning in Problem Solving" at IJCAI. He subsequently published articles on defense and practical applications of AI, including "Applications of AI Capability" in SIGNAL (1986) and "DOD Applications of Artificial Intelligence: Success and Prospects" in the SPIE proceedings (1988). In 1989, Simpson and Kolodner published "The MEDIATOR: Analysis of an Early Case-Based Problem Solver" in Cognitive Science.

In 1991, Simpson contributed overview articles to IEEE Expert, co-authoring "Knowledge-Based Systems: An Overview" with William Mark and authoring "Computer Vision: An Overview." His work in the early 1990s also addressed interface design support, including the 1992 book chapter "AskJef: Integration of case-based and multimedia technologies for interface design support" in Artificial Intelligence in Design '92 and the 1994 CAIA paper "Interface Lab: A Case-Based Interface Design Assistant" with A. Griffith and L. Blatt.

In the 2000s, Simpson collaborated extensively with Elizabeth Whitaker on case-based reasoning and intelligence analysis, publishing "Case-Based Reasoning for Knowledge Discovery" (2003), "Case-Based Reasoning in Support of Intelligence Analysis" (2004), and "The Evolution and Evaluation of an Internet Search Tool for Information Analysts" (2007). He also co-authored "Cognitive Factors in Homeland Defense: Reusing Intelligence Analysts' Search Plans" with Whitaker, Laura Burkhart, Reid MacTavish, and Collin Lobb in 2004. Later publications include "Refining the Cognitive Decathlon" with Charles Twardy at PerMIS08 in 2008, as well as "An Autonomic System for Close Air Support" with Christopher Rouff, Joe Roberts, and Gary Edwards in 2009.

Sources include Arthur Norberg's 1990 work, "An Interview with Robert L. Simpson, Jr." Another source is "Quantitative interpretation of fossil pollen spectra: Dissimilarity coefficients and the method of modern analogs" by J. T. Overpeck, T. Webb, and I. C. Prentice, published in Quaternary Research in January 1985. Additionally, Stephen Slade authored "Case-Based Reasoning: A Research Paradigm", published in AI Magazine on 1 March 1991.