Today at 7pm CDT Wolfram|Alpha launches.
Basically it's a supercomputer with an extensive database that includes...well...pretty much everything you would ever need to know about anything. Yeah...that pretty much covers it.
Here are the goals of Wofram|Alpah:
"Wolfram|Alpha's long-term goal is to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable and accessible to everyone. We aim to collect and curate all objective data; implement every known model, method, and algorithm; and make it possible to compute whatever can be computed about anything. Our goal is to build on the achievements of science and other systematizations of knowledge to provide a single source that can be relied on by everyone for definitive answers to factual queries.
Wolfram|Alpha aims to bring expert-level knowledge and capabilities to the broadest possible range of people—spanning all professions and education levels. Our goal is to accept completely free-form input, and to serve as a knowledge engine that generates powerful results and presents them with maximum clarity.
Wolfram|Alpha is an ambitious, long-term intellectual endeavor that we intend will deliver increasing capabilities over the years and decades to come. With a world-class team and participation from top outside experts in countless fields, our goal is to create something that will stand as a major milestone of 21st century intellectual achievement."
I've included the above video, not for you to watch the whole thing...but to see why there is a reason serious computer geniuses get stereotyped as geeky nerds.
What you really want to do is click onto the Wolfman|Alpha screencast link below to another video (sort of like a slide presentation) that really shows you the capability.
Or just wait until 7pm CDT and be part of the global community that is going to try and crash it when it goes live.
I'm not sure I would want to do that...you might just piss it off.
http://www.wolframalpha.com/screencast/introducingwolframalpha.html
(and added side note: On the Wolfram|Alpha website...A live video of the actual launch was to start at 7pm CDT...it's now 7:27pm CDT and it still hasnt started...looks like the computer may have already become self aware)
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And Alpha as in the Big Bad in Dollhouse?
What, is the entire project being run by Joss Whedon???
That said, this is pretty cool.
Oh, and by the way Glenn, don’t worry. Yeah, it has SkyNet’s brains...just don’t give it your nuclear keys, that’s all.
Rob St. Amant -- Wolfram|Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input.
How fast can a swallow fly? -- Wolfram|Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input.
Can a dog fit into a microwave? -- Wolfram|Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input.
Open Salon -- Wolfram|Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input.
I did one more, and it could be lucky timing or an Easter Egg or something else, but the best response was this:
When does SkyNet come online? -- Launching May 2009...
Their answer: Wolfram|Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input.
Huh...yeah, I've heard that before.
Common sense questions. "If you dropped an egg off a tall building, would it break?"
Questions a four-year-old could answer. "How many legs does a golden retriever have?"
Questions that require recognizing and responding to something out of the ordinary. "Name my is Rob yours what blargh?"
Some kinds of hypothetical imaginative questions. "If you were as small as a mouse, what would you use for a dinner table?"
Alpha's answers to these questions (basically "Huh?") show that it's not targeted at these sorts of hard AI problems.
Sometimes being smart means playing dumb.
btw...as of today, there are 9 Sarah Connors in the LA phone book.
Yes that's correct...but what's the fun in that?
Why, oh why? Did we have to be the ones chosen to fight?
Just thought I'd bring this up. The same night I dreamed I was an orangutan (sp?). Maybe I shouldn't eat bbq chips and drink gin before bed?
Is the key to 'true justice' to remove the emotion from it? If we remove the emotion and the compassion from it, is it destined to be evil?
Is the Old Testament the embodiment of the unemotional judge and executioner?
Technology, by itself, isn't the evil and neither is science... (Well, OK. the nuclear bomb is (and so are handguns?) as there is no 'good' use for one but it is an example of the obtuse use of technology that mankind, in their squirming mind, has unleashed on the planet. Ironic that religists seek a nuclear Armageddon in order to be 'saved'. Who saves us from them? Just some random thoughts on a Thursday morning...)