After a lot of hush-hush for several years the much longed for search engine TalkTalk was presented to the press this week. One day talking basically made me speechless; the future has never looked brighter in finding information.
TalkTalk will open to the public next week and this service will be something that you will use more than you can imagine. For the first time you can not only talk to the search engine, you can discuss with it what you are looking for.If you want to know more about the oil price, TalkTalk asks if you want to know the current oil price, the development of the oil price, or news related to the oil price. You say that you want to read news about it and TalkTalk asks you if you prefer a certain source (information that is stored for you if you want). TalkTalk then direct you to your source, or let you have the latest news related to the oil price in order from the most respected sources.
If you are looking for a certain person, you say his name, and TalkTalk will ask you what you know about him, is he alive, where is he working, is he publicly known etc. Then it asks you what you want to know and easily guide you to a website to find the information. This has made the search possible for a person named Gary Smith which has been impossible through previous search services.
Compared to other search services that uses a certain algorithm to provide data from a search, the artificial intelligence behind TalkTalk is said to easily spot if a certain source is aiming to deceive the searcher. TalkTalk also evaluates and stores every given reply and discussion, to learn how to give even more precise answers. How well this will work in the long run is yet to be seen, but thousands of people have challenged TalkTalk to tune it in before the launch, and the quality is remarkably good.
The first talking search engine saw the light of day more than 30 years ago and was called Speegle. It could read you the results from a written search on the Internet, and was more for the visually handicapped. TalkTalk is there for you 24/7 just a phone call away and on the Internet.
So far, TalkTalk can not read the information from a certain source to you by phone, if it is not in the public domain or freely available. There are currently negotiations to find an arrangment for this, but it would most likely be difficult due to copyright, and to secure an income for the publisher.
TalkTalk is also set to answer questions directly where there is a definite answer. So I called the phone service and it replied "TalkTalk, how may I help you?" I said "Which is the most populous nation in the world?" and before I was ready to take down the answer, it replied "India...anything else?"
Several new features are in the works, licensed from the same artificial intelligence technology. It is more detailed services like how to repair your car, a joker that have thousands of jokes to cheer you up, and the giant project to let everyone have access to a therapist with the same knowledge about the human mind as any experienced therapist.
TalkTalk is accessible over Internet and also by phone for all major territories, even though it only talks English. There are no plans to add other languages in the near future, most likely beacuse the giant investments needed. When you are tired of asking TalkTalk all your questions, just ask, "Where is TalkTalk?" and you will get an answer that will make you leave it with a smile on your lips.
Argument: Artificial intelligence will develop during year 2020-2030 and by then the computers are at the same level as the human brain. Today search engines are used frequently all over the world, and combined with artificial intelligence you will have a friend to talk to that can either give you answers to all the questions you have, or direct you to them.
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