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
diffuse_cells is a type of biological cell	1111	06-jul-2018	93.8
narrowstripe_cardinalfish is a fish	1111	06-jul-2018	100.0
crab_stuffed_flounder_recipe is a recipe	1111	06-jul-2018	99.6
lilac_leafminer is an arthropod	1111	06-jul-2018	100.0
como_software is a tool	1111	06-jul-2018	99.1
short_skirts is a clothing item to go with tops	1111	06-jul-2018	100.0
jim_brown is related to jim_brown	1116	12-sep-2018	100.0
lake_ontario is a lake in the state or province new_york_state	1116	12-sep-2018	100.0
products001 is a product produced in __america	1116	12-sep-2018	100.0
blockbuster_express is a company also known as bb	1113	15-aug-2018	93.8