Article Review: "The Answer Engine"

Chapter 11 details the different means of managing the knowledge of a firm. Firms depend on this knowledge in order to maintain a competitive advantage and be able to function effectively. One could then ask themselves: if firms use software to manage their knowledge, how do people manage their own knowledge? In the article "The Answer Engine," author Steven Levy tells of one very innovative former particle physicist Stephen Wolfram, who has created a new search engine that allows users to do something never easily performed before; search for answers. Coined as the "anti-google," Wolfram's program (Wolfram Alpha) allows users to input questions and find answers. Where preexisting search engines such as Google and Yahoo provide web pages where a web searcher may find an answer, Wolfram Alpha simply delivers an answer. According to Levy, Google will attempt to find and answer to a question but will only be successful if the question has already been answered before. Alpha on the other hand will collect the data, analyze it and simply deliver you an answer instead of a list of web pages.

This breakthrough idea has been put to use on their webpage: http://www79.wolframalpha.com/. Through some trial and error it is easy to see the limitless possibilities that this technology can create. By simply inputing a string of letters such as "ATTTAGGACACGTT" Alpha tells the user where this genome sequence is known to occur in the human genome. It details exactly what chromosome and what location on that chromosome as well. When you input a date, Alpha tells you the phase of the moon on that date in addition to other interesting information. With a what will likely become and ever increasing range and breadth of knowledge Alpha is sure to impact countless lives in the future. Not only will it make searching for information easier but will allow for a very user friendly means of managing seemingly limitless knowledge.

Levy, Steven (June 2009). The Answer Engine. Wired, 17(06), 62-63.