20Q
 A red 20Q by Radica | |
| Type | Electronic game Online game iOS iPad App customized knowledgebases |
|---|---|
| Inventor(s) | Robin Burgener[1] |
| Company | Radica(2003 - 2011) Techno Source(2011-2015) Uncle Milton Industries(2015–2017) Irwin Toys (2017-2019) Hansen Toys (2020-present) |
| Country | United States |
| Availability | 1988–present |
| Materials | Artificial Intelligence |
| Official website | |
20Qis a computerized game oftwenty questionsthat began as a test inartificial intelligence(AI). It was invented by Robin Burgener in 1988.[1]The game was made handheld byRadicain 2003, but was discontinued in 2011 becauseTechno Sourcetook the license for 20Q handheld devices.
The game 20Q is based on thespoken parlor gameknown as twenty questions, and is both a website[2]and a handheld device. 20Q asks the player to think of something and will then try to guess what they are thinking of with twenty yes-or-no questions. If it fails to guess in 20 questions, it will ask an additional 5 questions. If it fails to guess even with 25 (or 30) questions, the player is declared the winner. Sometimes the first guess of the object can be asked at question 14.
Principle and history
[edit]The principle is that the player thinks of something and the 20Q artificial intelligence asks a series of questions before guessing what the player is thinking. This artificial intelligence learns on its own with the information relayed back to the players who interact with it, and is not programmed. The player can answer these questions with:Yes,No,Unknown,andSometimes.The experiment is based on the classic word game of Twenty Questions, and on the computer game "Animals," popular in the early 1970s, which used a somewhat simpler method to guess an animal.[3]
The 20Q AI uses anartificial neural networkto pick the questions and to guess.[1][4]After the player has answered the twenty questions posed (sometimes fewer), 20Q makes a guess. If it is incorrect, it asks more questions, then guesses again. It makes guesses based on what it has learned; it is not programmed with information or what the inventor thinks. Answers to any question are based on players’ interpretations of the questions asked. Newer editions were made for different categories, such as music 20Q which has the player think of a song, and Harry Potter 20Q, which has the player think of something from the world of theHarry Potterseries.[5][6]
The 20Q AI can draw its own conclusions on how to interpret the information. It can be described as more of afolk taxonomythan ataxonomy.Its knowledge develops with every game played. In this regard, the online version of the 20Q AI can be inaccurate because it gathers its answers from what peoplethinkrather than from what peopleknow.Limitations of taxonomy are often overcome by the AI itself because it can learn and adapt. For example, if the player was thinking of a "Horse" and answered "No" to the question "Is it an animal?," the AI will, nevertheless, guess correctly, despite being told that a horse is not an animal.
Patent applications in the US and Europe were submitted in 2005.[7][8]
In August 2014, 20Q.net Inc., with Brashworks Studios, developed and released an iOS iPad version available at the AppleiTunesstore.
Game show
[edit]On June 13, 2009,GSNbegan a TV version of the game, hosted byCat Deeley,withHal Sparksas the voice of Mr. Q.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^abBurgener, Robin."Engineering Colloqium: 20Q The Neural Network Mind Reader".Goddard Space Flight Center.Archivedfrom the original on 2013-02-16.
- ^"Official 20Q Website".Archivedfrom the original on 2005-11-30.Retrieved2005-02-27.
- ^with information from: LiCalzi O'Connell, Pamela. "Vegetables And Minerals On The Radar" The New York Times. March 27, 2003; Burgener, Robin, computer architect, inventor.
- ^Official 20Q Q&A
- ^"20Q – Cool Tools".kk.org.
- ^"20Q.net Inc".20q.net.
- ^US discontinued application 2006230008,Burgener, Robin, "Artificial neural network guessing method and game", published 2006-10-12
- ^EP withdrawn application 1710735,Burgener, Robin, "Artificial neural network guessing method and game", published 2006-10-11, assigned to 20Q.net Inc.