To: Sowbug who wrote (1153 ) 4/13/1998 8:50:00 PM From: Wizzer Read Replies (1) | Respond to
Sowbug, a computer may be able to understand language depending on the exactness required in the interpretation. For example, when I speak to someone who is very poor in English, certain words are so simple yet descriptive that I need only assume the incomplete portion to have an understanding of what that person is saying. A computer could perhaps follow this logic and interpret sentences by concentrating on the key or descriptive words. If someone were to say to me, "Where you go?" that is all I need to hear to understand with context that the person is asking "Where did you go?", or "Where are you going?". For a computer to understand it could be something like: where=query, you=user/whomever, go=an amount of time has elapsed. Out of the complete sentence the rest of the words would be thrown out, yet understanding would be achieved. This is a simple example, but I never seem to have difficulty understanding a numerous amount of foreign speakers of any country. A sentence for a computer need not be complete and can be a number of key words to aid in comprehension. Of course, everyday common language is quite repetitive. A user could add their own qualifying words for their own purpose.
