Here are some frequently asked questions about Asimov.
This page shows some of
the quirks and oddities of Asimov.
When
Asimov behaves strangely, refer to this page.
Why doesn't it understand me?
Asimov can only understand sentences which are grammatically correct and simple.
If it doesn't understand, then try using a simpler sentence.
Sometimes using a simpler sentence will work.
E.g.
> What is the furthest
planet from the Sun?
Sorry. Question not understood at
all.
>
What is the furthest planet
?
Pluto is both a planet and furthest.
That's all.
>
When I ask it about microsoft, it says : "microsoft?" I don't know this word.
What does it mean by this?
It means that you need to use a capital letter : "Microsoft".
If you don't start "Microsoft" with a capital letter, it thinks that you meant to type in an English word. So it tells you that it doesn't have this word in its dictionary.
You should always use capitals correctly when talking to Asimov.
E.g.
> What is microsoft?
"microsoft"?
I don't know this word.
> What is Microsoft?
I know nothing about Microsoft.
Does it remember what I tell it forever?
When I come back to Asimov, will it remember me?
Yes. It should remember everything you tell it.
Every few days, or every few weeks, I will edit the facts that it knows, to remove untrue facts. (In other words, Martin Sondergaard, the creator of Asimov, will edit the facts. Thats me.)
Most things that you tell it will remain in Asimov's memory permanently.
I typed in something wrong, and it memorised it. Can I delete it?
Not at the moment.
We hope to add this feature soon.
How can I ask someone a question about Asimov?
How can I report a bug?
Send an email to Asimov's creator, Martin Sondergaard. Thats me.
I can be emailed here.
What does Asimov mean by "horse/1" and "horse/2", etc. ?
What do those numbers mean?
The word "horse" has different meanings. The number is used to indicate exactly which meaning is intended.
To see all the different meanings of the word "horse", enter "Define horse".
You will see that "horse/1" means an animal, and "horse/2" means a type of gymnastic equipment.
If a fact uses "horse/1" or "horse/2" instead of "horse", this stops the fact being ambiguous.
For example, if you tell Asimov "Sally likes horses", then Asimov doesn't know if Sally likes a kind of animal, or if she likes a kind of gymnastic apparatus.
Whereas, if Asimov knows "Sally likes horses/1" then Asimov will know that Sally likes a kind of animal, and not a kind of gymnastic apparatus.
Unfortunately if you actually type in "Sally likes horses/1", Asimov cannot understand.
Thats because terms like "horse/1" and "horse/2" are a new feature, and Asimov can only use them in a few sentences.
Unfortunately it can't use the terms "horse/1" and "horse/2" in facts that are typed in by users like yourself. At the moment, it only uses these terms in its built-in knowledge bank.
Can Asimov do logic?
Yes.
To test its logic, try entering these sentences :
Plato is a philosopher.
Philosophers are men.
Is Plato a
man?
Plato is a Greek.
Epicurus is a Greek.
Which Greek is a
man?
Epicurus is a Stoic.
Is Epicurus a philosopher?
Stoics are
philosophers.
Is Epicurus a philosopher?
Is Epicurus a man?
Socrates
taught Plato.
Which philosopher was taught by Socrates?
Which Greek did
Socrates teach?
Which Greeks were taught by philosophers?
What do the curly brackets
mean, "{ ... }"?
Curly brackets are used around a fact to indicate
that it is a suitable answer to the question.
When Asimov writes this fact,
within brackets, it also writes other sentences that were typed in at the same
time. It always writes these other sentences, even if Asimov finds them
incomprehensible.
E.g.
> Sedna was discovered in
2004. Sedna was first discovered with a ground-based telescope, and its
existence was confirmed by a space telescope.
Sentence 1 :
OK.
Sentence 2 :
Sorry, sentence not understood at all.
> When was Sedna discovered ?
{Sedna
was discovered in 2004.} Sedna was first discovered with a ground-based
telescope, and its existence was confirmed by a space telescope.
>
Why does it sometimes give
the same answer twice?
When answering
a question, sometimes Asimov will write a set of sentences more than once.
(By "set of sentences", I mean a series of sentences that
were entered together, in one go.)
This is an unfortunate feature of
Asimov. When it happens, please ignore it.
If
a set of sentences contains two facts, either of which can be used to answer the
question, then the set of sentences will be written twice. Once for each
fact.
E.g.
> Pluto was discovered in
1955. Sedna was discovered in 2004.
Sentence 1 :
OK.
Sentence
2 :
OK.
> When was Pluto
discovered?
{Pluto was discovered in 1955.} Sedna was discovered in
2004.
> When was Sedna
discovered?
Pluto was discovered in 1955. {Sedna was discovered in
2004.}
> When was anything
discovered ?
{Pluto was discovered in 1955.} Sedna was discovered in
2004.
Pluto was discovered in 1955. {Sedna was discovered in 2004.}
>
(In this last example, Asimov has written the same set of sentences twice.)
Why does it sometimes say
"OK" twice?
It says "OK" when it takes in a fact.
If you use a
statement that uses the word "and", Asimov will take in two facts or more, and
it says "OK" once for each fact.
E.g.
> Sally and Mary like
roses.
OK.
OK.
> Who
likes roses?
Sally likes roses.
Mary likes roses.
>
Is Asimov
intelligent?
Asimov is somewhat intelligent. Asimov can do some
of the intelligent things that humans do, but not others. Asimov is not
versatile or adaptable.
It may be possible to extend Asimov, making it
more and more intelligent.
Can
Asimov learn?
Yes, it can learn.
It learns facts that you
type in. Thats all.
Is Asimov
conscious?
Is Asimov self-aware?
In a limited
sense, Asimov is self-aware.
It knows things about itself. So it can answer
questions about itself, like "What can you do?" and "Where are
you?".
Self-awareness is only the first step on a staircase leading up to consciousness.
A lot more work needs to be done on Asimov before it can become conscious.
Does Asimov have feelings? Or moods?
No.
Can I download a copy of Asimov?
Can I use Asimov in
my company, to store facts used in my company?
No.
Asimov is not a stand-alone program, that can run on your own PC. It can only be
accessed over the internet.
A previous version of Asimov could be downloaded, and could run on a single PC or a network.
It could be used like a database, because it was able to store facts, and display them
in response to questions.
But that version is no longer available.
If you want a stand-alone version of Asimov, to use
like a database in your company, we would have to write one for you. This would
cost you at least US $5,000.
Thats the end of the FAQ.
The questions in this FAQ are not questions asked by real users; they are just
questions that I thought people might ask. I'm happy to add new questions to
this list. If you have a question that is not answered here, then you can send
it to me by email and I will answer by email.
My name is Martin Sondergaard, and you can
email me here .
Asimov uses WordNet, a lexicon developed at Princeton University,
USA.
Without WordNet, Asimov would be a poorer
program.
Asimov is Copyright Martin Sondergaard, 2005.
This website is copyright Martin Sondergaard, 2005.