CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom–()–Evi, a next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) now being launched via her own “conversational search” mobile app, has skyrocketed to the top of iOS and Android app popularity.
“The idea behind Evi is that asking naturally for information and getting a concise response back from a friendly system is a better user experience than guessing keywords and browsing links”
Why? “Stop searching,” says Evi. “Just ask.”
“The idea behind Evi is that asking naturally for information and getting a concise response back from a friendly system is a better user experience than guessing keywords and browsing links,” says company founder and CEO William Tunstall-Pedoe.
Evi is an artificial intelligence that uses natural language processing and semantic search technology to infer the intent of your question, gather information from multiple sources, analyze them and return the most pertinent answer. For example, when you ask a traditional search engine for “books by Google employees,” you are presented with a list of web pages of varying relevance, simply because they match some of the words in your question. Ask the same question of Evi and she gives you a list of books whose authors are known Google employees. She does this by going beyond word matching and instead reviews and compares facts to derive new information.
Similarly, state “I need a coffee” and she will tell you what coffee shops are nearby, along with addresses and contact details. Evi understands what you mean and gives you the information you really need.
Smart Girl Gets Smarter… And Knows How to Take Action
As Evi’s “father”, AI entrepreneur Tunstall-Pedoe has designed Evi to draw upon what is now approaching one billion facts contained in the True Knowledge database. The platform itself is based on a proprietary semantic technology that understands questions and combines what it knows to infer new facts and answer questions it has not previously encountered. With Evi’s aptitude for combining and analyzing facts, she can literally answer trillions of questions. The more users interact with Evi, the more facts and answers she’ll be able to provide.
In addition to the database, Evi’s pool of knowledge is extended through connections with popular APIs, such as Yelp.com, which will soon empower Evi to take immediate action related to your questions. For example, when asking for a nearby Chinese restaurant, Evi will also help you to make the reservations within the app itself.
While it is tempting to compare Evi to similar services such as Siri and others, there are clear distinctions. For example, as compared to Siri, which is primarily used for voice-activated phone control with additional search capabilities, Evi is designed to “take the search out of searching” by leveraging True Knowledge’s proprietary artificial intelligence technology to deliver filtered intelligence in a concise and relevant format.
You can see Evi in action in this video where she shows off her capabilities: http://bit.ly/evi-video. Evi can be downloaded for free in the Android Marketplace (http://bit.ly/evi-android) and in the iTunes App Store (http://bit.ly/evi-itunes), where a US $0.99 cost covers language processing license fees.
The explosion and ongoing evolution of the mobile market has presented tremendous opportunity for such innovation, but the plans for Evi don’t end there. “Evi has potential to work on a variety of platforms, from electronics to automobiles,” notes Tunstall-Pedoe.
Special Note to Users
Evi’s success outdistanced even the most optimistic forecasts by True Knowledge; as a result, many users were initially unable to successfully play with Evi due to high server demand. The company has since reconciled server issues and will continue to work to keep server capacity ahead of user demand.
ABOUT TRUE KNOWLEDGE
True Knowledge wants users to be able to ask any question, phrased in any manner and get the correct answer back immediately. Founded in 2007, Cambridge, UK-based True Knowledge currently employs 20 people. The company is venture funded, with the main investor being London-based Octopus Ventures. For more information about True Knowledge, visit http://corporate.trueknowledge.com/.
