Physics:WolframAlpha

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Short description: Search and answer engine
WolframAlpha
Wolfram Alpha December 2016.svg
Type of site
Answer engine
OwnerWolframAlpha LLC
Created byWolfram Research
Websitewww.wolframalpha.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional
LaunchedMay 18, 2009; 15 years ago (2009-05-18)[1] (official launch)
May 15, 2009 (2009-05-15)[2] (public launch)
Current statusActive
Written inWolfram Language

WolframAlpha (/ˈwʊlf.rəm-/ WUULf-rəm-) is an answer engine developed by Wolfram Research.[3] It answers factual queries by computing answers from externally sourced data.[4][5]

WolframAlpha was released on May 18, 2009, and is based on Wolfram's earlier product Wolfram Mathematica, a technical computing platform.[1] WolframAlpha gathers data from academic and commercial websites such as the CIA's The World Factbook, the United States Geological Survey, a Cornell University Library publication called All About Birds, Chambers Biographical Dictionary, Dow Jones, the Catalogue of Life,[3] CrunchBase,[6] Best Buy,[7] and the FAA to answer queries.[8] A Spanish language version was launched in 2022.[9]

Technology

Overview

Users submit queries and computation requests via a text field. WolframAlpha then computes answers and relevant visualizations from a knowledge base of curated, structured data that come from other sites and books. It can respond to particularly phrased natural language fact-based questions. It displays its "Input interpretation" of such a question, using standardized phrases. It can also parse mathematical symbolism and respond with numerical and statistical results.[citation needed]

Development

WolframAlpha is written in the Wolfram Language, a general[clarification needed] multi-paradigm programming language, and implemented in Mathematica. Wolfram language is proprietary and is not commonly used by developers.[10]

Usage

WolframAlpha was used to power some searches in the Microsoft Bing and DuckDuckGo search engines but is no longer used to provide search results.[11][12] For factual question answering, WolframAlpha was used[when?] by Apple's Siri and Amazon Alexa for math and science queries but is no longer operational within those services.[13][14] WolframAlpha data types[clarification needed] became available in July 2020 within Microsoft Excel, but the Microsoft-Wolfram partnership ended nearly two years later, in 2022, in favor of Microsoft Power Query data types.[15] WolframAlpha functionality in Microsoft Excel ended in June 2023.[16][17]

History

Launch preparations for WolframAlpha began on May 15, 2009, at 7 p.m. CDT and were broadcast live on Justin.tv. The plan was to publicly launch the service a few hours later. However, there were issues due to extreme load. The service officially launched on May 18, 2009,[18] receiving mixed reviews.[19][20] In 2009, WolframAlpha advocates pointed to its [vague], some stating that how it determines results is more important than current usefulness.[19] WolframAlpha was free at launch, but later Wolfram Research attempted to monetize the service by launching an iOS application with a cost of $50, while the website itself was free.[21] That plan was abandoned after criticism.[21]

On February 8, 2012, WolframAlpha Pro was released,[22] offering users additional features for a monthly subscription fee.[22][23]

Some high-school and college students use WolframAlpha to cheat on math homework, though Wolfram Research says the service helps students understand math with its problem-solving capabilities.[24]

Copyright claims

InfoWorld published an article warning readers of the potential implications of giving an automated website proprietary rights to the data it generates.[25] Free software advocate Richard Stallman also opposes recognizing the site as a copyright holder and suspects that Wolfram Research would not be able to make this case under existing copyright law.[26]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Wolfram|Alpha Launch Team (May 8, 2009). "So Much for A Quiet Launch". Wolfram|Alpha Blog. Wolfram Alpha. http://blog.wolframalpha.com/2009/05/08/so-much-for-a-quiet-launch/. 
  2. ↑ The Wolfram|Alpha Launch Team (May 12, 2009). "Going Live—and Webcasting It". Wolfram|Alpha Blog. Wolfram Alpha. http://blog.wolframalpha.com/2009/05/12/going-live-and-webcasting-it/. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Bobbie Johnson (May 21, 2009). "Where does Wolfram Alpha get its information?". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/may/21/1. 
  4. ↑ "About Wolfram|Alpha: Making the World's Knowledge Computable". http://www.wolframalpha.com/about.html. 
  5. ↑ Johnson, Bobbie (March 9, 2009). "British search engine 'could rival Google'". The Guardian (UK: Guardian News and Media). https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/mar/09/search-engine-google. 
  6. ↑ Dillet, Romain (September 7, 2012). "Wolfram Alpha Makes CrunchBase Data Computable Just In Time For Disrupt SF". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2012/09/07/wolfram-alpha-makes-crunchbase-data-computable-just-in-time-for-disrupt/. 
  7. ↑ Golson, Jordan (December 16, 2011). "Wolfram Delivers Siri-Enabled Shopping Results From Best Buy". MacRumors. http://www.macrumors.com/2011/12/16/wolfram-delivers-siri-enabled-shopping-results-from-best-buy/. 
  8. ↑ Barylick, Chris (November 19, 2011). "Wolfram Alpha search engine now tracks flight paths, trajectory information". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2011/11/19/wolfram-alpha-search-engine-now-tracks-flight-paths-trajectory/. 
  9. ↑ "Wolfram Alpha Spanish Announcement". Wolfram Research. July 22, 2022. https://blog.wolfram.com/2022/07/22/wolframalpha-now-in-spanish/. 
  10. ↑ "TIOBE Index" (in en-US). https://www.tiobe.com/tiobe-index/. 
  11. ↑ Krazit, Tom (August 21, 2009). "Bing strikes licensing deal with Wolfram Alpha". CNET. http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10315117-265.html. 
  12. ↑ The Wolfram|Alpha Team (April 18, 2011). "Wolfram|Alpha and DuckDuckGo Partner on API Binding and Search Integration". Wolfram|Alpha Blog. Wolfram Alpha. http://blog.wolframalpha.com/2011/04/18/wolframalpha-and-duckduckgo-partner-on-api-binding-and-search-integration/. 
  13. ↑ "Alexa gets access to Wolfram Alpha's knowledge engine" (in en-US). December 20, 2018. https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/20/alexa-gets-access-to-wolfram-alphas-knowledge-engine/. 
  14. ↑ "Alexa Can Now Answer Those Tricky Math Questions". News18. December 26, 2018. https://www.news18.com/news/tech/alexa-can-now-answer-those-tricky-math-questions-1983751.html. 
  15. ↑ "Excel Data Types with Wolfram End of Support FAQ". https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/excel-data-types-with-wolfram-end-of-support-faq-9ac0876c-b8cb-4c8e-bed6-207d0d675bfe. 
  16. ↑ "Microsoft is killing Money in Excel along with Wolfram Alpha data types" (in en-US). 2022-05-31. https://www.xda-developers.com/microsoft-killing-money-excel-wolfram-alpha-data-types/. 
  17. ↑ "Three Microsoft 365 features have disappeared". 2023-07-13. https://office-watch.com/2023/microsoft-365-features-disappear/. 
  18. ↑ "Wolfram 'search engine' goes live". BBC News. May 18, 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8052798.stm. 
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Spivack, Nova (March 7, 2009). "Wolfram Alpha is Coming – and It Could be as Important as Google". Nova Spivack – Minding the Planet. http://www.novaspivack.com/uncategorized/wolfram-alpha-is-coming-and-it-could-be-as-important-as-google. 
  20. ↑ Singel, Ryan (May 18, 2009). "Wolfram|Alpha Fails the Cool Test". Wired. https://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/05/wolframalpha-fails-the-cool-test/. 
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Nice Try, Wolfram Alpha. Still Not Paying $50 For Your App." (in en-US). December 3, 2009. https://social.techcrunch.com/2009/12/03/wolfram-alpha-iphone-app/. 
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Wolfram, Stephen (February 8, 2012). "Announcing Wolfram|Alpha Pro". Wolfram|Alpha Blog (Wolfram Alpha). http://blog.wolframalpha.com/2012/02/08/announcing-wolframalpha-pro/. 
  23. ↑ "Step-by-Step Math". http://blog.wolframalpha.com/2009/12/01/step-by-step-math/. 
  24. ↑ Biddle, Pippa. "AI Is Making It Extremely Easy for Students to Cheat | Backchannel" (in en-US). Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. https://www.wired.com/story/ai-is-making-it-extremely-easy-for-students-to-cheat/. Retrieved 2022-10-06. 
  25. ↑ Stallman, Richard (August 4, 2009). "How Wolfram Alpha's Copyright Claims Could Change Software". Access 2 Knowledge (Mailing list). Archived from the original on April 28, 2013. Retrieved 2012-02-17. Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)

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