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is one of the most advanced mathematical packages in history, and it shows pretty
much everything computers can do for math.
The search engine Wolfram Alpha is also a pioneering tool. When a user poses
a question where factual answers are possible, Wolfram Alpha gives a useful re-
turn. For example, a question such as “How many protons are in a hydrogen
atom?” will yield the return answer “1.” This is not just a pointer to a document or
website, but a true answer.
More sophisticated questions are also answered. For example, a website about
Wolfram Alpha had a sample question of “Tell me about Big Mac nutrition,”
meaning the hamburger sold by McDonald's. The response to this question is an
itemized list of ingredients plus information on calories, saturated fat, polyunsat-
urated fats, protein, carbohydrates, and basically everything else.
Wolfram is doing continuous research on knowledge capture, taxonomies for
knowledge classification, and other advanced research topics.
The ideas behind Wolfram Alpha can become a major new field of intellectual
research as well as software engineering research. Potentially, Wolfram Alpha can
become a kind of worldwide knowledge web that synthesizes facts and turns them
into useful and readable information.
Needless to say, the technology in Wolfram Alpha has implications for military,
defense, and security systems as well as for business and science. A military ques-
tion such as “Tell me about North Korean air-defense capabilities” should yield in-
teresting information. Another question of interest might be “Tell me which coun-
tries initiate the most cyberattacks on the United States.”
It is fairly easy to search the web and find out factual information. But to syn-
thesize factual information from hundreds of sources and produce a reasoned ana-
lysis is a much harder undertaking. Wolfram Alpha is a true pioneer in a field that
is likely to have a global impact.
There are numerous business questions that an intelligent agent such as Wol-
fram Alpha might soon be able to answer, too. Among these would be “Which
Fortune 500 customers use the Oracle ERP package?” or “How many copies of
the KnowledgePLAN parametric estimating tool are installed in South America?”
Wolfram Research remains a private company that has not gone public or had
an IPO. However, the value of the Wolfram Research intellectual property seems
to be enormous. No doubt many large corporations such as Google or IBM that
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