Software That Learns from Users
A massive AI project called CALO (Cognitive Assistant that Learns and Organizes) could revolutionize machine learning
CALO is a very ambitious collaboration between more than twenty different organizations. The goal of the project is to create cognitive software systems, that is, systems that can reason, learn from experience, be told what to do, explain what they are doing, reflect on their experience, and respond robustly to surprise.
CALO brings together many experts from different fields of artificial intelligence, like machine learning, natural language processing, and Semantic Web technologies. Groups work on a different piece of CALO, which will be part of the whole functionality.
The thing that makes computers a huge pain for everybody, says Pedro Domingos, an associate professor of computer science at the University of Washington, is that you have to explain to them every little detail of what they need to do. "It's really annoying," Domingos jokes. "They're stupid."
CALO, a massive, four-year-old artificial-intelligence project assists computers to understand the intentions of their human users. Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and coordinated by SRI International, based in Menlo Park, CA, the project brings together researchers from 25 universities and corporations, in many areas of artificial intelligence, including machine learning, natural-language processing, and Semantic Web technologies. Each group works on pieces of CALO.
[More: http://www.technologyreview.com/
See also:
http://www.dailytech.com/
http://www.ai.sri.com/project/CALO]
Acapela gives a voice
to Santa Claus
for talking customised online greetings
3D animation application (source: MakeBeliever)
For the first time ever, Santa Claus can wish anyone on your Christmas list a very special and personalised Merry Christmas through a completely automated process. The greeting is delivered to the recipient by email and accessed via a link to streaming video (a free download is also available).
MakeBeliever offers the ability to have real human characters say what you want, directly to the recipient, with an unparalleled level of personalisation and realism. Anyone can create a highly customised virtual greeting by visiting the MakeBeliever website (www.makebeliever.com) and simply typing in the text they would like Santa to say. MakeBeliever's proprietary technology will put the words right into Santa's mouth, using Acapela's speech synthesis. The content is limited only by the creator's imagination.
The final vocalised text is a sophisticated mix of recorded prompts and text-to-speech technology, allowing for the seamless integration of the typed-in information with an optimal vocal result. Kids of all ages are simply amazed at how Santa is able to say so much about them personally and want to listen to the greetings again and again!
[More on:
http://www.acapela-group.com/
Send Greetings:
http://www.makebeliever.com/]