Since twitter has become such a great source of current event information, I have made checking trending topics part of my morning routine. I stumbled upon #Wolfram|Alpha, and initially passed it off as another group of twiggs trying to promote some incoherent word, but after entering a Google search, I was astounded. In it’s own words, “Wolfram|Alpha is the first step in an ambitious, long-term project to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable by anyone.” You enter your question or calculation, and Wolfram|Alpha uses its built-in algorithms and growing collection of data to compute the answer.
- Wolfram|Alpha can tell you that there are 66,000 people in India who speak a language called Korwa
- Can tell you whether you are over or underweight, how many quarts of water you have in your body, and what your heart volume is in pints (although, I dont know why you would want to know this!)
- Can calculate how many days you have been alive, or any other mathematical formula you input
Fifty years ago, when computers were young, people assumed that they’d quickly be able to handle all these kinds of things.
And that one would be able to ask a computer any factual question, and have it compute the answer.
But it didn’t work out that way. Computers have been able to do many remarkable and unexpected things. But not that.
I’d always thought, though, that eventually it should be possible. And a few years ago, I realized that I was finally in a position to try to do it.
– Stephen Wolfram
Okay, I know youre thinking:
- Why would I need this useless knowledge?
- Cant I just use Google to find the answer to practically eveything? How is Wolfram|Alpha competitive?
- Isnt this just like Cuil, or Cyc?
Answer:
Wolfram|Alpha is a resource that students will find invaluable for its ability to interpret and solve nearly any mathematical equation, as well as its ability to compile and deliver all information as it relates to a particular date. Enter your birthdate, for example, and not only will Wolfram|Alpha tell you about significant events that happened on that date, but also the time of sunrise and sunset on that particular day, and even what phase the moon was in! Enter a future date, and the search engine will tell you what anniversaries and significant events are scheduled for that date! Lets see Google do that! In defense of Google, W|A doesnt handle as wide a range of queries, but it handles far more than Cyc or Cuil. Also, W|A lacks deductive reasoning powers, unlike Google, meaning queries where
“those where the query requires logically reasoning out a way to combine (logically or arithmetically combine) two or more pieces of information which the system can individually fetch for you. One example of this is: “How old was Obama when Mitterrand was elected president of France?” It can tell you demographic information about Obama, if you ask, and it can tell you information about Mitterrand (including his ruleStartDate), but doesn’t make or execute the plan to calculate a person’s age on a certain date given his birth date”
Granted, W|A cant tell you what a gibbous moon is as soon as you enter it into the search engine like Google can, but the implications for this project could mean a paradigm shift in the way we access and use information. I have already started using it as my Google in absentia. Try it out and you will quickly be able to see its potential!
World Domination with Arthur Pledger 