This article may have been created or edited in return for undisclosed payments, a violation of Wikipedia's
terms of use. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's
content policies, particularly
neutral point of view. (September 2022) |
Type of site | Answer engine |
---|---|
Owner | WolframAlpha LLC |
Created by | Wolfram Research |
URL |
www |
Commercial | Yes |
Registration | Optional |
Launched | May 18, 2009[1] (official launch) May 15, 2009 [2] (public launch) |
Current status | Active |
Written in | Wolfram Language |
WolframAlpha ( /ˈwʊlf.rəm-/ WUULf-rəm-) is an answer engine developed by Wolfram Research. [3] It is offered as an online service that 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]
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]
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]
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]
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 potential[ 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]
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]
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This article may have been created or edited in return for undisclosed payments, a violation of Wikipedia's
terms of use. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's
content policies, particularly
neutral point of view. (September 2022) |
Type of site | Answer engine |
---|---|
Owner | WolframAlpha LLC |
Created by | Wolfram Research |
URL |
www |
Commercial | Yes |
Registration | Optional |
Launched | May 18, 2009[1] (official launch) May 15, 2009 [2] (public launch) |
Current status | Active |
Written in | Wolfram Language |
WolframAlpha ( /ˈwʊlf.rəm-/ WUULf-rəm-) is an answer engine developed by Wolfram Research. [3] It is offered as an online service that 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]
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]
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]
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]
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 potential[ 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]
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]
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link)
{{
cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link)
{{
cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link)