Read the Web
Research Project at Carnegie Mellon University

NELL: Never-Ending Language Learning

Browse the Knowledge Base!

Can computers learn to read? We think so. "Read the Web" is a research project that attempts to create a computer system that learns over time to read the web. Since January 2010, our computer system called NELL (Never-Ending Language Learner) has been running continuously, attempting to perform two tasks each day:

• First, it attempts to "read," or extract facts from text found in hundreds of millions of web pages (e.g., playsInstrument(George_Harrison, guitar)).
• Second, it attempts to improve its reading competence, so that tomorrow it can extract more facts from the web, more accurately.

So far, NELL has accumulated over 50 million candidate beliefs by reading the web, and it is considering these at different levels of confidence. NELL has high confidence in 2,810,379 of these beliefs — these are displayed on this website. It is not perfect, but NELL is learning. You can track NELL's progress below or @cmunell on Twitter, browse and download its knowledge base, read more about our technical approach, or join the discussion group.

Recently-Learned Facts

instance	iteration	date learned	confidence
poker_bonuses is a cardgame	1111	06-jul-2018	99.8
class_guid is a machine-learning conference	1112	24-jul-2018	94.7
formalization_software is a tool	1111	06-jul-2018	99.7
aluminum_pipe_fittings is a building material	1111	06-jul-2018	98.4
jelly_beans_sunkist_tangerine is a kind of candy	1111	06-jul-2018	97.8
wcmh_tv is a TV affiliate of the network nbc_news	1116	12-sep-2018	99.8
the country panama uses the currency dollar	1116	12-sep-2018	99.8
states is a state or province located in the geopolitical location russia	1113	15-aug-2018	100.0
uconn hired calhoun	1111	06-jul-2018	99.9
short_skirts is a clothing item to go with shirts	1111	06-jul-2018	100.0