Cyc

1 definition found

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  Cyc
       
           A large {knowledge-based system}.
       
          Cyc is a very large, multi-contextual {knowledge base} and
          {inference engine}, the development of which started at the


          {Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation} (MCC)
          in Austin, Texas during the early 1980s.
       
          Over the past eleven years the members of the Cyc team, lead
          by {Doug Lenat}, have added to the knowledge base a huge
          amount of fundamental human knowledge: {facts}, rules of
          thumb, and {heuristics} for reasoning about the objects and
          events of modern everyday life.
       
          Cyc is an attempt to do symbolic {AI} on a massive scale.  It
          is not based on numerical methods such as statistical
          probabilities, nor is it based on {neural networks} or {fuzzy
          logic}.  All of the knowledge in Cyc is represented
          {declaratively} in the form of logical {assertions}.  Cyc
          presently contains approximately 400,000 significant
          assertions, which include simple statements of fact, rules
          about what conclusions to draw if certain statements of fact
          are satisfied, and rules about how to reason with certain
          types of facts and rules.  The {inference engine} derives new
          conclusions using {deductive reasoning}.
       
          To date, Cyc has made possible ground-breaking pilot
          applications in the areas of {heterogeneous} database browsing
          and integration, {captioned image retrieval}, and {natural
          language processing}.
       
          In January of 1995, a new independent company named Cycorp was
          created to continue the Cyc project.  Cycorp is still in
          Austin, Texas.  The president of Cycorp is {Doug Lenat}.
       
          The development of Cyc has been supported by several
          organisations, including {Apple}, {Bellcore}, {DEC}, {DoD},
          {Interval}, {Kodak}, and {Microsoft}.
       
          {Home (http://www.cyc.com/)}.
       
          {Unofficial FAQ (http://www.robotwisdom.com/ai/cycfaq.html)}.
       
          (1999-09-07)