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Building a Computer That Learns What You Want

PC 'assistant' could prioritize, even decide

By Laila Weir,  Newser User

Posted Dec 1, 2007 6:26 AM CST

(Newser) – Wouldn't it be nice if your computer could figure out what you wanted it to do? That dream just might be approaching reality, thanks to a project called CALO that aims to teach computers to understand users' intentions, according to the MIT Technology Review. "If CALO succeeds, it'll be quite a revolution," says one researcher.

CALO, or "cognitive assistant that learns and organizes," is meant to learn about a user's work life and then intelligently filter information from meetings and other sources, interacting with people and even making decisions—for example, rescheduling a meeting if someone it knows is important can't attend. A simple version is in evaluation for military use.

It's really annoying, jokes one CALO associate of a computer's inability to reason minor details. They're stupid.
"It's really annoying," jokes one CALO associate of a computer's inability to reason minor details. "They're stupid."   (Shutterstock.com)
Sponsored by DARPA, CALO brings together researchers in artificial intelligence and related fields from 25 universities and corporations.
Sponsored by DARPA, CALO brings together researchers in artificial intelligence and related fields from 25 universities and corporations.   (Shutterstock.com)
CALO, which stands for cognitive assistant that learns and organizes, is divided into a cooperation of groups tasked with a different aspect of research and development into artificial intelligence.
CALO, which stands for "cognitive assistant that learns and organizes," is divided into a cooperation of groups tasked with a different aspect of research and development into artificial intelligence.   (Shutterstock.com)
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