资料来源 : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

Cyc
     
         A large {knowledge-based system}.
     
        Cyc is a very large, multi-contextual {knowledge base} and
        {inference engine}, the development of which started at the
        {Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation} (MCC)
        in Austin, Texas during the early 1980s.
     
        Over the past eleven years the members of the Cyc team, lead
        by {Doug Lenat}, have added to the knowledge base a huge
        amount of fundamental human knowledge: {facts}, rules of
        thumb, and {heuristics} for reasoning about the objects and
        events of modern everyday life.
     
        Cyc is an attempt to do symbolic {AI} on a massive scale.  It
        is not based on numerical methods such as statistical
        probabilities, nor is it based on {neural networks} or {fuzzy
        logic}.  All of the knowledge in Cyc is represented
        {declaratively} in the form of logical {assertions}.  Cyc
        presently contains approximately 400,000 significant
        assertions, which include simple statements of fact, rules
        about what conclusions to draw if certain statements of fact
        are satisfied, and rules about how to reason with certain
        types of facts and rules.  The {inference engine} derives new
        conclusions using {deductive reasoning}.
     
        To date, Cyc has made possible ground-breaking pilot
        applications in the areas of {heterogeneous} database browsing
        and integration, {captioned image retrieval}, and {natural
        language processing}.
     
        In January of 1995, a new independent company named Cycorp was
        created to continue the Cyc project.  Cycorp is still in
        Austin, Texas.  The president of Cycorp is {Doug Lenat}.
     
        The development of Cyc has been supported by several
        organisations, including {Apple}, {Bellcore}, {DEC}, {DoD},
        {Interval}, {Kodak}, and {Microsoft}.
     
        {Home (http://www.cyc.com/)}.
     
        {Unofficial FAQ (http://www.robotwisdom.com/ai/cycfaq.html)}.
     
        (1999-09-07)