WolframAlpha
Type of site
Answer engine
OwnerWolframAlpha LLC
Created byWolfram Research
URLwww.wolframalpha.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional
LaunchedMay 18, 2009 (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.

Development

WolframAlpha is written in the Wolfram Language, a general 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 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 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 potential, 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]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 The Wolfram|Alpha Launch Team (May 8, 2009). "So Much for A Quiet Launch". Wolfram|Alpha Blog. Wolfram Alpha. Retrieved February 9, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ↑ The Wolfram|Alpha Launch Team (May 12, 2009). "Going Live—and Webcasting It". Wolfram|Alpha Blog. Wolfram Alpha. Retrieved February 9, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. 1 2 Bobbie Johnson (May 21, 2009). "Where does Wolfram Alpha get its information?". The Guardian. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
  4. ↑ "About Wolfram|Alpha: Making the World's Knowledge Computable". wolframalpha.com. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  5. ↑ Johnson, Bobbie (March 9, 2009). "British search engine 'could rival Google'". The Guardian. UK: Guardian News and Media. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
  6. ↑ Dillet, Romain (September 7, 2012). "Wolfram Alpha Makes CrunchBase Data Computable Just In Time For Disrupt SF". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
  7. ↑ Golson, Jordan (December 16, 2011). "Wolfram Delivers Siri-Enabled Shopping Results From Best Buy". MacRumors. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
  8. ↑ Barylick, Chris (November 19, 2011). "Wolfram Alpha search engine now tracks flight paths, trajectory information". Engadget. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Wolfram Alpha Spanish Announcement". Wolfram Alpha. Wolfram Research. July 22, 2022. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  10. ↑ "TIOBE Index". TIOBE. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  11. ↑ Krazit, Tom (August 21, 2009). "Bing strikes licensing deal with Wolfram Alpha". CNET. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
  12. ↑ The Wolfram|Alpha Team (April 18, 2011). "Wolfram|Alpha and DuckDuckGo Partner on API Binding and Search Integration". Wolfram|Alpha Blog. Wolfram Alpha. Retrieved February 9, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ↑ "Alexa gets access to Wolfram Alpha's knowledge engine". TechCrunch. December 20, 2018. Archived from the original on December 18, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Alexa Can Now Answer Those Tricky Math Questions". News18. December 26, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Excel Data Types with Wolfram End of Support FAQ". support.microsoft.com. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  16. ↑ "Microsoft is killing Money in Excel along with Wolfram Alpha data types". XDA. May 31, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  17. ↑ "Three Microsoft 365 features have disappeared". July 13, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Wolfram 'search engine' goes live". BBC News. May 18, 2009. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
  19. 1 2 Spivack, Nova (March 7, 2009). "Wolfram Alpha is Coming – and It Could be as Important as Google". Nova Spivack – Minding the Planet. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
  20. ↑ Singel, Ryan (May 18, 2009). "Wolfram|Alpha Fails the Cool Test". Wired. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
  21. 1 2 "Nice Try, Wolfram Alpha. Still Not Paying $50 For Your App". TechCrunch. December 3, 2009. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  22. 1 2 Wolfram, Stephen (February 8, 2012). "Announcing Wolfram|Alpha Pro". Wolfram|Alpha Blog. Wolfram Alpha. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
  23. ↑ "Step-by-Step Math".
  24. ↑ Biddle, Pippa. "AI Is Making It Extremely Easy for Students to Cheat | Backchannel". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  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 February 17, 2012.
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