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
rinsed_glass is an item found in the kitchen	1111	06-jul-2018	99.6
striped_seaperch is a fish	1111	06-jul-2018	100.0
muddledness is an emotion	1111	06-jul-2018	97.7
flexor_longus_digitorum_pedis_muscle is a muscle	1111	06-jul-2018	99.4
blackberry_accessories is an item often found in a bathroom	1111	06-jul-2018	99.9
adventures is a generalization of canoeing	1111	06-jul-2018	100.0
anthrax is a musician in the genre metal	1113	15-aug-2018	100.0
los_angeles_adventurer_all_suite_hotel is a hotel in the city los_angeles_ca	1116	12-sep-2018	100.0
states is a state or province located in the geopolitical location nueva_york	1114	25-aug-2018	100.0
the companies new_york and herald compete with eachother	1111	06-jul-2018	100.0