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
ford_aspire_distributor is a model of automobile	1111	06-jul-2018	98.7
compressed_natural_gas is a weapon	1111	06-jul-2018	98.2
florence_dupont_employees__federal_credit_union is a credit union	1111	06-jul-2018	100.0
two_fast_food is a parlour game	1111	06-jul-2018	100.0
justice_peter_cory is a judge	1111	06-jul-2018	98.3
dept is a synonym for administration	1111	06-jul-2018	93.8
raptors is a sports team that plays against cavaliers	1111	06-jul-2018	99.9
beds is often found in big_rooms	1111	06-jul-2018	100.0
brain_maps_to_mechanisms__neural_circuit_molecular_architecture is part of joint_department_of_neurobiology_and_center_for_the_neural_basis_of_cognition_and_systems_neuroscience_institue_seminar	1116	12-sep-2018	100.0
cells is a subpart of the body within umbilical_cord	1111	06-jul-2018	100.0