How to Build a System
I have talked a lot about the differences between statistical and semantic information (especially around quality) in the recent past. I have also been interested in ways to bridge the gaps between these approaches, as they both have their own strengths and weaknesses. A project that is aiming to do something like this is the Semantic Media Wiki. They take an interesting approach to bridging the gap between human understanding and machine-processable truth by including it an easy to use repository, Media Wiki.
Why This Is Interesting
Astute followers will notice that Media Wiki is the same software used to power the Wikipedia, which makes things particularly interesting. An easy to use semantic engine with a large, public, well-maintained fact repository could make for a very productive combination. This is the exact opposite of something like OpenCyc, which is large and private and “stuttered out of the gates” about 5 years late.
I really agree with the principles behind Semantic Media Wiki, namely:
- Let people define their truth in a way that works for them.
- Make it easy for that information to be leveraged.
- Mine the data for all it is worth.
When it is easy for people to share and build on each other’s work, there is no limit to what they can accomplish. Any system that can take advantage of this has a great chance at success.
March 12th, 2007 at 8:04 am
[…] A while back, I wrote about how useful it would be to be able to combine collaborative information and structured data. While Wikis and other collaborative information sources are great, I would argue that they aren’t useful until they can be used in aggregated or statistical form for strategic decision making or automation. Until then, they are too “abstract” to be useful (at least in the mechanical sense of the word). […]