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
halo_2 is a video game	1111	06-jul-2018	100.0
ford_torino_engines is a kind of automobile engine	1111	06-jul-2018	100.0
briskness is a physical characteristic	1112	24-jul-2018	100.0
errol_flynn is a fashion model	1111	06-jul-2018	100.0
rubber_bone is a bone	1111	06-jul-2018	91.9
tylenol is a drug that might treat aches	1116	12-sep-2018	96.9
roddick is an athlete who wins wimbledon	1116	12-sep-2018	99.9
states is a state or province located in the geopolitical location maryland	1115	03-sep-2018	100.0
jack_london was born in the city oakland	1116	12-sep-2018	100.0
george_tiller died in the location kansas	1116	12-sep-2018	93.8