Teaching a Computer Common Sense

I am hoping that someone can help me with this question. In the summer of 2001 I read an article about a company that had designed a computer program and had spent nearly 15 years teaching it common sense. For example, they taught the computer that when you shatter a piece of wood, you get smaller pieces of wood, but when you shatter a chair, you don't get smaller chairs but smaller pieces of wood.

In this way, the computer got to the point where it developed self-awareness and starting asking things like "who am I?"

The design team consisted of computer scientists and at least one minister, as I recall. Every day they would go in and chat with the computer, give it facts, and answer its questions.

I remember reading that the program would be used with Google and/or Yahoo, to the end of making communications with the search engine more user-friendly.

I was wondering whatever had come of that project, and where they are now with it. Does anyone have an information?

you are talking about an industry that is so covered up, because who is going to be the first to get intelligent machines into the public, huge money there.

obviously none of would really know, unless there may be some papers on the internet, but role on the day, when you could communicate with a computer like you can with a person.

imagine having a computer literate in all subjects you are interested in, or a computer that can access all info on a subject on the web, and have a converstaion with you about that subject(this is where computers will go).

the possibilities for the internet and human interaction are endless, of course many of us may not be alive to see those things, but kids living today should at least have what i described.

the world of tomorrow is frightening, but it does have some plus points also.