I am exceedingly ecstatic about the launch of Wolfram Alpha tomorrow. Why? Because its launch will aver an assertion that was made by an Elizabethan-era mathematician named Sir. John Dee ( He was a trusted adviser to the British Virgin-Queen and the real 007).
As you may/may not know, Sir. John Dee was of the opinion that it is possible to manipulate abstract symbols and numerical data to solve any quandary that besets mankind... And, as you obviously suspect, it is my belief that Wolfram Alpha will be the magical tool that will manipulate abstract symbols and numerical data to solve any quandary that besets mankind.
After it does that, the complex symbolic representation will then be adroitly used to build a plausible answer (to the query) - from bits of innocuous data existing in an array of online knowledge databases.
Amazingly, the output of the whole process will be a detailed answer, that resembles a dense academic script; which has graphs, diagrams, charts, references, and answers to other interesting related questions. Otherwise, succinctly expressed: Wolfram Alpha will be like a thinking Wikipedia, that builds answers off-the bat; the epitome of Sir. John Dee's assertion!
Furthermore, the answers that Wolfram Alpha will produce, will actually appear like they have been prepared by a seasoned pundit, and Wolfram Alpha may actually perform better in the Turing Test, than any Web 2.0 technology that has ever been created before. (In fact, it may be the harbinger of an impending technological singularity!)
A message to the inveterate skeptics of the concept of an impeding technological singularity: "Now, is the time to suspend the senseless incredulity, and pause for just one moment, to contemplate the possible consequences of an inevitable technological singularity."
As you may/may not know, Sir. John Dee was of the opinion that it is possible to manipulate abstract symbols and numerical data to solve any quandary that besets mankind... And, as you obviously suspect, it is my belief that Wolfram Alpha will be the magical tool that will manipulate abstract symbols and numerical data to solve any quandary that besets mankind.
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I firmly believe that Wolfram Alpha will be the first revolutionary knowledge computational engine. From what I've read about the tool, I can surmise that it will have the ability to answer multifarious factual questions, from a diverse range of fields, by rapidly synthesizing a search query into a complex symbolic algorithmic representation.After it does that, the complex symbolic representation will then be adroitly used to build a plausible answer (to the query) - from bits of innocuous data existing in an array of online knowledge databases.
Amazingly, the output of the whole process will be a detailed answer, that resembles a dense academic script; which has graphs, diagrams, charts, references, and answers to other interesting related questions. Otherwise, succinctly expressed: Wolfram Alpha will be like a thinking Wikipedia, that builds answers off-the bat; the epitome of Sir. John Dee's assertion!
Furthermore, the answers that Wolfram Alpha will produce, will actually appear like they have been prepared by a seasoned pundit, and Wolfram Alpha may actually perform better in the Turing Test, than any Web 2.0 technology that has ever been created before. (In fact, it may be the harbinger of an impending technological singularity!)
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A message to the inveterate skeptics of the concept of an impeding technological singularity: "Now, is the time to suspend the senseless incredulity, and pause for just one moment, to contemplate the possible consequences of an inevitable technological singularity."
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This may be bad news to Luddites, but its definitely great news to me.