University Of Siena In Italy Creates AI Software That Can Solve Crosswords In English And Italian

JAKARTA - The University of Siena in Italy and expert.ai launched an Artificial Intelligence (AI) software called WebCrow 2.0 that can solve crossword puzzles in English and Italian.

"WebCrow is the first AI-based software to handle language games using NLP technology and is the richest self-renewing repository of human knowledge available on the web," reads the website.

By using AI technology, WebCrow will understand what kind of puzzle clues humans do. It starts with understanding the clues, which lead to a sequence of logical and linguistic steps leading to the correct answer.

Launching Engadget, last year there was an AI named Dr. Fill that outperformed most of the best human competitors in the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. However, the performance is still not perfect, Dr. Fill made three mistakes in the tournament.

To test the capabilities of WebCrow 2.0, the creators of WebCrow opened a challenge to pit their AI powers against human players, and it will be held on June 14th. It will be a multilingual competition featuring crossword puzzles in English and Italian.

"Can machines solve these problems as well as humans? How do they compare definitions and answer clues with niche or abstract references? Can they pick up puns, linguistic nuances, and even humor? We're ready to show you how leveraging context can enable humans and software to work together and take AI-based cognitive abilities to a new level,” said Marco Gori, a professor in the Department of Information Engineering and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Siena.