https://web.archive.org/web/20070105030625/http://news.com.com/Google+exec+challenges+Berners-Lee/2100-1025_3-6095705.html * Log in | Sign up Why join? # [E-mail ] [******** ] Go [*] Remember me | Forgot password? Welcome (log out) View profile CNET.com[hd-site-3] Search: [ ] [News ] Go! [search_go_] Advanced search Today on CNET Reviews News Downloads Tips & Tricks CNET TV Compare Prices Today on News| Business Tech| Cutting Edge| Access| Threats| Media 2.0| Markets| Digital Life| Blogs| Extra| My News | RSS Google exec challenges Berners-Lee Director of Search says Net pioneer's Semantic Web vision could be hamstrung by incompetent Web masters. By Candace Lombardi Staff Writer, CNET News.com Published: July 18, 2006, 5:17 PM PDT Tell us what you think about this storyTalkBack E-mail this story to a friendE-mail View this story formatted for printingPrint Add to your del.icio.usdel.icio.us Digg this storyDigg this A Google executive challenged Internet pioneer Tim Berners-Lee on his ideas for a Semantic Web during a conference in Boston on artificial intelligence. On Tuesday, Berners-Lee, the father of the Web and the current director of the World Wide Web Consortium, gave the keynote on artificial intelligence and the Semantic Web at a conference sponsored by the American Association for Artificial Intelligence (AAAI). He said the next stage of the Web is about making data accessible for artificial intelligence to locate and analyze. A Semantic Web, a Web with linked data easily readable by machines, would make available more knowledge for reuse in serendipitous applications by people and organizations who are not the ones who originally created or published the information, Berners-Lee said. The speech covered Berners-Lee's known proposal for Web developers to use semantic languages in addition to HTML. He stressed the importance of using persistent URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers) and RDF (Resource Description Framework) for identifying information. Consistent use of these specifications, said Berners-Lee, will allow the Semantic Web to maintain the collaborative nature the World Wide Web was originally intended to have. At the end of the keynote, however, things took a different turn. Google Director of Search and AAAI Fellow Peter Norvig was the first to the microphone during the Q&A session, and he took the opportunity to raise a few points. "What I get a lot is: 'Why are you against the Semantic Web?' I am not against the Semantic Web. But from Google's point of view, there are a few things you need to overcome, incompetence being the first," Norvig said. Norvig clarified that it was not Berners-Lee or his group that he was referring to as incompetent, but the general user. "We deal with millions of Web masters who can't configure a server, can't write HTML. It's hard for them to go to the next step. The second problem is competition. Some commercial providers say, 'I'm the leader. Why should I standardize?' The third problem is one of deception. We deal every day with people who try to rank higher in the results and then try to sell someone Viagra when that's not what they are looking for. With less human oversight with the Semantic Web, we are worried about it being easier to be deceptive," Norvig said. Now on News.com: * TV blackout for Vista testers * Flights of fancy in wind power * The good and the bad of bug campaigns * Extra: Vandalism demands Internet legislation? "While you own the data that's fine, but when somebody breaks and says, 'If you use our enterprise system, we will have all your data in RDF. We care because we've got the best database.' That is much more powerful," Berners-Lee said. To illustrate his stance, he used the example of bookstores initially withholding information on stock levels and purchase price but then breaking them as others did. Berners-Lee agreed with Norvig that deception on the Internet is a problem, but he argued that part of the Semantic Web is about identifying the originator of information, and identifying why the information can be trusted, not just the content of the information itself. "Google is in a situation to do wonderful things, as it did with the Web in general, and add a whole other facet to the graphs--the rules that are testing which data source. It will be a much richer environment," Berners-Lee told the search giant executive. Tell us what you think about this storyTalkBack E-mail this story to a friendE-mail View this story formatted for printingPrint Add to your del.icio.usdel.icio.us Digg this storyDigg this Read more on this story's topics and companies * Add to My News | Create an alert Web sites * Add to My News | Create an alert Search * Artificial intelligence (AI) * Add to My News | Create an alert Internet * Add to My News | Create an alert Google 12 comments Post a comment TalkBack Interesting Concept Jean-Pierre Khoueiri Jul 25, 2006, 11:41 AM PDT Neal Stephenson would be a good place to start... jasred Jul 20, 2006, 4:23 PM PDT Verde interesting.... ggazcamper Jul 20, 2006, 12:53 PM PDT few points harmattan Jul 19, 2006, 8:41 AM PDT Gaming With Uncertainty Len Bullard Jul 19, 2006, 6:39 AM PDT It is correct to say... Mendz Jul 19, 2006, 1:49 AM PDT Google Be Creative rtuinenburg Jul 18, 2006, 8:09 PM PDT Google is starting to sound like Microsoft btrogdon Jul 18, 2006, 7:40 PM PDT google has it right. sundance_tree Jul 18, 2006, 7:31 PM PDT Read more comments > advertisement * [BannerSource] Related stories Related news * Click fraud increasing, study finds July 17, 2006 * Microsoft's forgotten monopoly Perspective, June 19, 2006 * Semantic Web ready for mainstream use May 24, 2006 * Berners-Lee calls for Net neutrality May 23, 2006 Get this story's "Big Picture" > Related videos Reorganization at one of the original Internet companies Reorganization at one of the original Internet companies December 8, 2006 Holiday hackers to look out for Holiday hackers to look out for November 20, 2006 Redmond has released its new operating system, marking the end of the development phase and the beginning of the distribution phase Redmond has released its new operating system, marking the end of the development phase and the beginning of the distribution phase November 10, 2006 Watch more videos > From News.com Extra * Berners-Lee applies Web 2.0 to improve accessibility from The Register * Semantic Web Under Suspicion from Slashdot * Smart sites to power semantic web from BBC News * Semantic Web will bring privacy nightmare from the INQUIRER * W3C: Redesigning the Internet from PCWorld * Berners-Lee applies Web 2.0 to improve accessibility from The Register Get more news around the Web with News.com Extra > Related white papers * How Does Ping Really Work? 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