The International Symposium on Distributed Computing and Artificial Intelligence is an annual forum that brings together ideas, projects, lessons, etc. associated with distr- uted computing, artificial intelligence and its applications in different themes. This meeting has been held at the University of Salamanca from the 22th to the 24th of October 2008. This symposium has be organized by the Biomedicine, Intelligent S- tem and Educational Technology Research Group (http://bisite. usal. es/) of the Univ- sity of Salamanca. The technology transfer in this field is still a challenge and for that reason this type of contributions has been specially considered in this edition. This c- ference is the forum in which to present application of innovative techniques to complex problems. The artificial intelligence is changing our society. Its application in distr- uted environments, such as the Internet, electronic commerce, mobile communications, wireless devices, distributed computing, and so on is increasing and is becoming an element of high added value and economic potential, both industrial and research. These technologies are changing constantly as a result of the large research and technical effort being undertaken in both universities and businesses. The exchange of ideas between scientists and technicians from both academic and business areas is essential to facilitate the development of systems that meet the demands of today's society.