WolframAlpha
{{Short description|Search and answer engine}}
{{Undisclosed paid|date=September 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox website
| name = WolframAlpha
| logo = Wolfram Alpha December 2016.svg
| caption = WolframAlpha is based on the computational platform Mathematica, written by British scientist Stephen Wolfram in 1988.
| url = {{URL|https://www.wolframalpha.com/|wolframalpha.com}}
| commercial = Yes
| type = Answer engine
| registration = Optional
| owner = WolframAlpha LLC
| author = Wolfram Research
| programming_language = Wolfram Language
| launch_date = {{start date and age|2009|5|18}}
| current_status = Active
}}
WolframAlpha ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ʊ|l|f|.|r|əm|-}} {{respell|WUULf|rəm|-}}) is an answer engine developed by Wolfram Research.{{cite news |title=Where does Wolfram Alpha get its information? |author=Bobbie Johnson |work=The Guardian |date=May 21, 2009 |access-date=March 8, 2013 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/may/21/1}} It is offered as an online service that answers factual queries by computing answers from externally sourced data.{{Cite web |title=About Wolfram{{!}}Alpha: Making the World's Knowledge Computable |url = http://www.wolframalpha.com/about.html |website=WolframAlpha |access-date = November 25, 2015}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/mar/09/search-engine-google |title=British search engine 'could rival Google' |last=Johnson |first=Bobbie |date=March 9, 2009 |work=The Guardian |publisher=Guardian News and Media |location=UK |access-date=February 9, 2013}}
History
Launch preparations for WolframAlpha began on May 15, 2009, at 7:00 pm CDT with a live broadcast on Justin.tv. The plan was to publicly launch the service a few hours later.{{cite web |author=The Wolfram|Alpha Launch Team |url=http://blog.wolframalpha.com/2009/05/08/so-much-for-a-quiet-launch/ |title=So Much for A Quiet Launch |work=Wolfram|Alpha Blog |publisher=Wolfram Alpha |date=May 8, 2009 |access-date=February 9, 2013}}{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8052798.stm |title=Wolfram 'search engine' goes live |publisher=BBC News |date=May 18, 2009 |access-date=February 9, 2013}} However, there were issues due to extreme load. The service officially launched on May 18, 2009, receiving mixed reviews.{{cite web |author=The Wolfram|Alpha Launch Team |url=http://blog.wolframalpha.com/2009/05/12/going-live-and-webcasting-it/ |work=Wolfram|Alpha Blog |title=Going Live—and Webcasting It |publisher=Wolfram Alpha |date=May 12, 2009 |access-date=February 9, 2013}}{{cite web |first=Nova |last=Spivack |title=Wolfram Alpha is Coming – and It Could be as Important as Google |date=March 7, 2009 |url=http://www.novaspivack.com/uncategorized/wolfram-alpha-is-coming-and-it-could-be-as-important-as-google |access-date=February 9, 2013 |publisher=Nova Spivack – Minding the Planet}}{{cite news |first=Ryan |last=Singel |title=Wolfram|Alpha Fails the Cool Test |date=May 18, 2009 |url=https://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/05/wolframalpha-fails-the-cool-test/ |publisher=Wired |access-date=February 9, 2013}}
The engine is based on Wolfram's earlier product Wolfram Mathematica, a technical computing platform. The coding is written in Wolfram Language, a general multi-paradigm{{explain|date=January 2025}} programming language, and implemented in Mathematica.{{Cite web |title=TIOBE Index |url=https://www.tiobe.com/tiobe-index/ |access-date=October 6, 2022 |website=TIOBE |language=en-US}} WolframAlpha gathers data from academic and commercial websites such as the CIA's The World Factbook, the United States Geological Survey, a Cornell University Library publication called All About Birds, Chambers Biographical Dictionary, Dow Jones, the Catalogue of Life, CrunchBase,{{cite news |last=Dillet |first=Romain |title=Wolfram Alpha Makes CrunchBase Data Computable Just In Time For Disrupt SF |url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/09/07/wolfram-alpha-makes-crunchbase-data-computable-just-in-time-for-disrupt/ |publisher=TechCrunch |date=September 7, 2012 |access-date=February 9, 2013}} Best Buy,{{cite news |last=Golson |first=Jordan |title=Wolfram Delivers Siri-Enabled Shopping Results From Best Buy |url=http://www.macrumors.com/2011/12/16/wolfram-delivers-siri-enabled-shopping-results-from-best-buy/ |publisher=MacRumors |date=December 16, 2011 |access-date=February 9, 2013}} and the FAA to answer queries.{{cite news |last=Barylick |first=Chris |title=Wolfram Alpha search engine now tracks flight paths, trajectory information |url=https://www.engadget.com/2011/11/19/wolfram-alpha-search-engine-now-tracks-flight-paths-trajectory/ |publisher=Engadget |date=November 19, 2011 |access-date=February 9, 2013}}
On February 8, 2012, WolframAlpha Pro was released,{{cite news |first=Stephen |last=Wolfram |url=http://blog.wolframalpha.com/2012/02/08/announcing-wolframalpha-pro/ |title=Announcing Wolfram|Alpha Pro |date=February 8, 2012 |work=Wolfram|Alpha Blog |publisher=Wolfram Alpha |access-date=February 9, 2013}} offering users additional features for a monthly subscription fee.{{cite web |url=http://blog.wolframalpha.com/2009/12/01/step-by-step-math/ |title=Step-by-Step Math}}
Usage
Users submit queries and computation requests via a text field. WolframAlpha then computes answers and relevant visualizations from a knowledge base of curated, structured data that come from other sites and books. It can respond to particularly phrased natural language fact-based questions. It displays its "Input interpretation" of such a question, using standardized phrases. It can also parse mathematical symbolism and respond with numerical and statistical results.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}
WolframAlpha was used to power some searches in the Microsoft Bing and DuckDuckGo search engines but is no longer used to provide search results.{{cite news |first=Tom |last=Krazit |url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10315117-265.html |title=Bing strikes licensing deal with Wolfram Alpha |publisher=CNET |date=August 21, 2009 |access-date=February 9, 2013 |archive-date=October 23, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023060523/http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10315117-265.html |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |author=The Wolfram|Alpha Team |date=April 18, 2011 |url=http://blog.wolframalpha.com/2011/04/18/wolframalpha-and-duckduckgo-partner-on-api-binding-and-search-integration/ |title=Wolfram|Alpha and DuckDuckGo Partner on API Binding and Search Integration |work=Wolfram|Alpha Blog |publisher=Wolfram Alpha |access-date=February 9, 2013}} For factual question answering, WolframAlpha was used by Apple's Siri in October 2011 and Amazon Alexa in December 2018 for math and science queries.{{Cite web |title=Siri brings nearly 25 percent of Wolfram Alpha traffic |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/siri-brings-nearly-25-percent-of-wolfram-alpha-traffic/ |access-date=June 12, 2024 |website=CNET |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Iribarren |first=Maddie |date=December 27, 2018 |title=Wolfram Alpha Makes Alexa Smarter |url=https://voicebot.ai/2018/12/27/wolfram-alpha-makes-alexa-smarter/ |access-date=June 12, 2024 |website=Voicebot.ai |language=en-US}} Users noticed that the Wolfram Integration for Siri was changed in June 2013 to use Bing to query certain results on iOS 7.{{Cite web |date=June 16, 2013 |title=Siri getting "dumber" (Wolfram{{!}}Alpha integration removed in iOS 7?) |url=https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/siri-getting-dumber-wolfram-alpha-integration-removed-in-ios-7.1597610/ |access-date=June 12, 2024 |website=MacRumors Forums |language=en-US}} Starting with iOS 17, it was reported that Wolfram for Siri no longer answers mathematical equations, instead defaulting to web search queries with no notable explanation.{{Cite web |last=I-g_n-i_s |date=November 24, 2023 |title=Why does Siri no longer do math from Wolfram Alpha as of iOS 17.1.1? |url=http://www.reddit.com/r/Siri/comments/1830mar/why_does_siri_no_longer_do_math_from_wolfram/ |access-date=June 12, 2024 |website=Reddit}}{{Cite web |title=Why does Siri no longer display Wolfgrama… - Apple Community |url=https://discussions.apple.com/thread/254393061?sortBy=best |access-date=June 12, 2024 |website=discussions.apple.com}} WolframAlpha {{clarify|text=data types|reason=it hasn't yet been explained what those are|date=April 2023}}, sets of curated information and formulas that assist in creating, categorization, and filling of spreadsheet information, became available in July 2020 within Microsoft Excel.{{Cite web |title=Wolfram Data Intelligence: New in Microsoft |url=https://www.wolfram.com/microsoft-integration/excel/ |access-date=June 6, 2024 |website=Wolfram}} The Microsoft-Wolfram partnership ended nearly two years later, in 2022, in favor of Microsoft Power Query data types.{{Cite web |title=Excel Data Types with Wolfram End of Support FAQ |url=https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/excel-data-types-with-wolfram-end-of-support-faq-9ac0876c-b8cb-4c8e-bed6-207d0d675bfe |access-date=August 15, 2022 |website=support.microsoft.com}} WolframAlpha functionality in Microsoft Excel ended in June 2023.{{Cite web |date=May 31, 2022 |title=Microsoft is killing Money in Excel along with Wolfram Alpha data types |url=https://www.xda-developers.com/microsoft-killing-money-excel-wolfram-alpha-data-types/ |access-date=August 15, 2022 |website=XDA |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=July 13, 2023 |title=Three Microsoft 365 features have disappeared |url=https://office-watch.com/2023/microsoft-365-features-disappear/ |access-date=October 26, 2023}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{official website}}
{{Wolfram Research}}
{{Intelligent personal assistant software}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Educational math software
Category:Information retrieval systems
Category:Internet properties established in 2009
Category:Mathematics education
Category:Natural language processing software
Category:Open educational resources