Patent ID: 7249117

Claim:
A system for processing information, comprising: a computer for running software programs in a distributed network, said computer including a processing means in communication with said distributed network; at least one storage means in communication with said processing means for storing programs and information; and at least one data agent in said distributed network for conducting a specific response to commands generated by said processing means; wherein said computer, said at least one storage means, and said at least one data agent are operable for: learning associations of natural language artifacts in unstructured data sources, wherein said artifacts include at least one of words, phrases, subjects, predicates, modifiers, and other syntactic forms; and learning semantic and syntactic relationships in structured data sources, wherein said structured data sources are in conventional formats used by relational database systems; further wherein learned associations resulting from said learning associations of natural language artifacts are formed using grouping of one natural language artifact in a interaction window with another at least one natural language artifact in said interaction window, based on a criteria of shared features of one or more sets from said grouping constituting measurements from said data sources; further wherein said criteria of shared features are dynamically determined without the use of a priori classifications and using conditional probability constraints between sets of learned associations; and further wherein said grouping creates a network of conditional probabilities between all encountered natural language artifacts or a subset thereof, determined by consideration of conditional interaction probabilities based on a history of measurements from said data sources; means for constructing hierarchies of association across a state space of term usage compatible for interpolation of mapping functions between sets of terms, wherein said mapping functions include one or more of fuzzy-type, weighted-type, or other types of mapping functions; and means for generating a structure of mapping functions comprising sets of terms in particular semantic positions, wherein said structure comprises a formal semantic structure of one or more of programming languages, modal logics, frame systems, and ontologies of objects and relationships.