An overview of the semantic Web--an extension of the current Web-- that may act as a "collective memory," augmenting individual brain power and accelerating the pace of human learning and discovery. The author argues for guidance now to "avoid the emergence of a dystopian digital dictator."
Researchers are developing "chatterbots" that are renewing debate about the extent to which computers can achieve intelligence. The electronic personalities of this generation use the vast repository of information on the World Wide Web as their memory bank, not just some rigid database.
Charles Platt takes a broad look at the prospects for artificial intelligence in the form of chatbots, the semantic web, and humanoid robots.