User:Vipul/Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence

The Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (abbreviated AI2) is a research institute funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen to achieve scientific breakthroughs by constructing AI systems with reasoning, learning and reading capabilities. Oren Etzioni was appointed by Paul Allen in September 2013 to head the research at the institute.

Programs
AI2's current flagship project is Project Aristo, inspired by a similar project called Project Halo carried out by Seattle-based artificial intelligence company Vulcan. The goal is to attempt to design computers that can pass school science examinations (4th grade, 8th grade, and 12th grade) after preparing for the examinations from the course texts and study guides. The focus of the project is explained by the guiding philosophy that artificial intelligence is about having a mental model for how things operate and refining that mental model based on new knowledge. It was found that computers could learn better from study guides than from ordinary textbooks because study guides offered information more directly and avoided metaphorical language and digressions.

Media coverage
AI2 was the subject of an in-depth article in The Verge. Its launch was covered in Xconomy, and GeekWire. Allen and Etzioni co-authored an article for CNN about artificial intelligence and AI2 in December 2013. AI2 has also been mentioned in other articles discussing the current state of and trends in artificial intelligence research.