Possible future developments in artificial intelligence (AI) as well as its limitations are considered that have implications for institutional research in higher education, and especially decision making and decision support systems. It is noted that computer software programs have been developed that store knowledge and mimic the decision-making abilities of experts. In order to picture possible future developments in AI and the possible effects on institutional researchers, an exercise in creative imagination for decision-making in the year 2001 is presented. It is noted that AI expands the capacity for memory, recall, association, and other capacities of human intelligence. AI is limited in terms of the function of integration. In addition to integrating the individual aspects of the mind itself, human intelligence can integrate other functions such as the emotional, sensory, and experiential domains, all of which may be important in decision-making. The institutional researcher of the future may help design sophisticated AI software that will require knowledge across a number of disciplinary fields and the ability to integrate these fields with expert system decision-processing software. 33 references. (SW)