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Going from a 'Web of links' to a 'Web of meaning'

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the linked-to-linked-to-linked-to-linked-to dept.

neutron_p writes "Computer scientists from Lehigh University are building the Semantic Web, which will handle more data, resolve contradictions and draw inferences from users' queries. The new improved Web will also combine pieces of information from multiple sites in order to find answers to questions."

4 of 142 comments (clear)

  1. Something similar. by modifried · · Score: 4, Informative

    Covered not long ago - an interview with Berners-Lee regarding the Semantic Web.

  2. Why is this news? by multipart · · Score: 4, Informative

    People at DERI in Ireland's Galway are also working on the Semantic Web (see http://www.deri.ie/). I thought lots of people are...

  3. Being built by Lehigh university eh? by The_reformant · · Score: 5, Informative

    The semantic web is a pretty popular area of research right now and its far from being "built by computer scientists at Lehigh University", in fact I could have done an undergrad dissertation on the semantic web, and there were numerous phD positions being advertised at uni's around the world researching about the semantic web.
    Whichever lehigh uni professor submitted this is stooping pretty low trying to raise publicity (and hence finance) I would think!

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  4. Meaning = ability to Intelligently Handle by LionKimbro · · Score: 4, Informative

    A message has "meaning" if you can make special use of it.

    Normal web pages have meaning for browsers, it's just that that meaning is limited to "how to draw words for the user."

    What we're doing, is making it so that your computer can make special use of messages on the web, to do smarter things.

    It would be scary if the Semantic Web were about "my meaning is THE meaning." But it is explicitely not like that. In fact, one of the main things about it is that anyone can make up their own languages, their own way of modelling the world.

    There are tools that make it so you can say, "My word X is sort of like their word Y," but it's acknowledged that such translations will be imperfect. Likely, fuzzy logic, and systems that are able to ask for clarification (and remember responses), will be used to mediate that sort of things.

    You may also be interested in my favorite page on AI by Open Mind. The Semantic Web isn't explicitely about AI, but it opens the door for a lot of AI work.