Semantic fail
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Leena Rao at TechCrunch points out a case where semantic search turned into anti-semitic search.
This morning I wrote about NetBase Solutions’ healthBase, a semantic search engine that aggregates medical content from millions of authoritative health sites including WebMD, Wikipedia, and PubMed. But is it a semantic engine or an anti-semitic search engine?
Several of our readers tested out the site and found that healthBase’s semantic search engine has some major glitches (see the comments). One of the most unfortunate examples is when you type in a search for “AIDS,” one of the listed causes of the disease is “Jew.” Really.
The ridiculousness continues. When you click on Jew, you can see proper “Treatments” for Jews, “Drugs And Medications” for Jews and “Complications” for Jews. Apparently, “alcohol” and “coarse salt” are treatments to get rid of Jews, as is Dr. Pepper! Who knew?
Apparently this was not the result of amalgamating medical advice from Hamas, but rather a consequence of some artificial stupidity applied to Wikipedia, as a company representative explained:
This is an unfortunate example of homonymy, i.e. words that have different meanings.
The showcase was not configured to distinguish between the disease “AIDS” and the verb “aids” (as in aiding someone). If you click on the result “Jew” you see a sentence from a Wikipedia page about 7th Century history: “Hispano-Visigothic king Egica accuses the Jews of aiding the Muslims, and sentences all Jews to slavery. ” Although Wikipedia contains a lot of great health information it also contains non-health related information (like this one) that is hard to filter out.
And that's not the end of the fun and games:
If you look at the pros of AIDS (yes, it thinks here are pros to having AIDS), it comically lists the “Spanish Civil War.” One of the causes of hemorrhoids is “Bronco” (I don’t even want to know).
It only took a few clicks for me to get here:
Or here:
Vincent said,
September 3, 2009 @ 10:20 pm
I've been trying to get rid of these hookers forever. Indications: one bourbon, one scotch, one beer.
http://healthbase.netbase.com/#hookers&Treatments
[(myl) In case the link fails:
And let's not forget the causes:
And the complications:
The complications are kind of poetic: "Attack flank… Cheer on Crash … Disgust couch … Scant hint". ]
joeplus said,
September 3, 2009 @ 10:25 pm
Did Eric Cartman design this search engine?
Interesting to consider case-sensitivity: ever since web addresses came along it seemed anachronistic to talk about capital letters on the internet. Now that the web is better at rich information, it becomes important again.
Dan Lufkin said,
September 3, 2009 @ 10:49 pm
I'm glad to see that the pros of linguistics outweigh the cons 4:1.
[(myl) But those cons are fierce:
]
Vincent said,
September 3, 2009 @ 11:09 pm
Cons are pretty accurate!
Ken said,
September 3, 2009 @ 11:11 pm
I blogged it here.
Note: even when you use it absolutely properly and as intended, it returns bizarre results. Note, for instance, when I entered "Prozac" to see the pros and cons of that drug as a treatment, one of the returns I got:
In other words, it returned a South Park episode summary.
Here's the thing. It's supposed to be worthwhile to use HealthBase, rather than (for instance) Google, because it consults "authoritative health sources” rather than the entire internet.
What kind of authoritative health sources carry South Park summaries?
[(myl) I can't resist quoting your blog post:
Was it redstate.com who prescribed the jellyfish collagen? ]
dr pepper said,
September 3, 2009 @ 11:40 pm
Perhaps we can find the key to a couple of old chronic complaints:
http://healthbase.netbase.com/#prescriptivism&Treatments
http://healthbase.netbase.com/#strunk%20and%20white&Treatments
TB said,
September 3, 2009 @ 11:44 pm
I have never laughed so hard at a Language Log post/comment thread in my life. Moar!
John Lawler said,
September 3, 2009 @ 11:52 pm
@TB: ¡Ditto!
Who knew CL/NLP would provide so many good laughs?
Has Comedy Central got a horse in the race?
Rubrick said,
September 4, 2009 @ 12:26 am
You have to admit, "developing sense" is a pretty good anti-war prescription.
Vincent II said,
September 4, 2009 @ 1:44 am
One of the causes of hemorrhoids is “Bronco” (I don’t even want to know).
Yes, but your readers may be curious. I am old enough to remember a brand of toilet paper called Bronco, whose strong point was its hard shiny surface.
Vincent II said,
September 4, 2009 @ 2:34 am
For reference to the above, see http://www.ephemera-society.org.uk/articles/cloacopapyrology.html
Chris Hunt said,
September 4, 2009 @ 5:02 am
Wikipedia as an "authoratative health resource"? Maybe they should have read If Surgery was like Wikipedia
Kenny Easwaran said,
September 4, 2009 @ 5:32 am
I note that they claim to search "millions" of sources – are they counting individual pages and articles from each source I guess?
Also, I note that "Obama" and "Jews" no longer return any results, but "Hookers" still does.
Dierk said,
September 4, 2009 @ 6:03 am
In short: They created a syntactical search engine with a relatively large database of synonyms. Nothing semantic about it.
Faldone said,
September 4, 2009 @ 7:12 am
One of the "pros" of linguistics is "Abnormal language development"?! Me abtrocious indignificated!!
greg said,
September 4, 2009 @ 8:24 am
causes of 'george bush':
Chandler
Ralph Nader
Hose paper
Midget statement
Slogan
Terrorist
treatments of 'george bush':
Template system (Template)
American Eagle
Bill
Cabinet
Legislation
complications of 'george bush':
Invade Iraq
Authorize nsa wiretap program
Defame website
Deficit
Financial issue
Financial meltdown
Kill uncle
Lose family member
Return haitian refugee
Telephone number
mgh said,
September 4, 2009 @ 8:24 am
I like Mark's coinage of "artificial stupidity" for this kind of AI
I guess the software that runs it would be ASS
greg said,
September 4, 2009 @ 8:51 am
To be fair, the semantic search itself is quite effective, it's that the databases it is searching aren't limited to strictly medical issues. Searching for something fairly specific like 'lymphoma' produces legitimate results.
be_slayed said,
September 4, 2009 @ 9:15 am
Kenny Easwaran said: Also, I note that "Obama" and "Jews" no longer return any results, but "Hookers" still does.
It looks like they've "fixed" some problems by filtering out certain words (like "Jews"). So while Jews are no longer considered a cause of AIDS, "strong magnetic fields", "Ivorian air strikes", and "explanations" are: http://healthbase.netbase.com/#aids&Causes
[(myl) For the record:
]
greg said,
September 4, 2009 @ 11:04 am
re: aids causes – not any more :(
Emily said,
September 4, 2009 @ 11:14 am
Drugs & Medications for teabag:
Slow-release fertilizer pellet
Treatments for teabag:
AI
Band
Teabag ex-hoofer
Simulation
Small reactor
Band Teabag
Buddy Lackey
Deeper tea strainer
Doods
FOX
Emily said,
September 4, 2009 @ 11:18 am
Also, "Drugs and medications for Alaska" include "satellite system", "Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin", and "Illicit drug".
Under "food and plants" one finds the mysterious "High-velocity grain":
"Three mammoth tusks found in Alaska and Siberia, which were carbon-dated to be about 34,000 years old, are pitted with slightly radioactive, iron-rich impact sites caused by high-velocity grains…"
Which has no cons, but only one pro: "iron-rich impact site".
zak said,
September 4, 2009 @ 11:42 am
The results for "copyright infringement" are interesting.
Marcus said,
September 4, 2009 @ 11:59 am
Causes of pregnancy:
:)
greg said,
September 4, 2009 @ 12:25 pm
One of the complications for 'curiosity' is 'kill cat'
And this one is a mixed bag:
Pros of intercourse (20)
HIV transmission (transmit HIV)
Achieve ejaculation
Achieve pregnancy
Acquire HPV
Adopt similar sociopolitical institution
Assess efficacy
Blood-to-blood contact
Boost endorphin
Bring bad luck
Burn calorie
Cons of intercourse (20)
Painful
Bleeding
Table
Dissatisfaction
Infection
Uncomfortable
Worsen Neurologic symptom
HIV infection risk
IC
Anogenital abrasion
greg said,
September 4, 2009 @ 12:27 pm
Sorry, I'm done posting things. I could play with this all day.
codeman38 said,
September 4, 2009 @ 3:16 pm
Apparently the treatments for ADHD include rats, and the causes include efficacy, ingredients, headline stories and campus. Who knew?
dr pepper said,
September 4, 2009 @ 5:45 pm
Hmmm. I can see someone writing a post apocalyptic story in which parts of the internet are still functioning, thanks to backup servers in deep military bunkers. A few extra tough laptops with solar rechargers have survived and those who own them become the new shamans. By the third generation, they no longer know enough to determine the context of their search results, and offer only oracular responses.
— except it looks as if we're there already.
Jerry Friedman said,
September 4, 2009 @ 6:17 pm
@mgh: An early hit for "artificial stupidity" in an AI context is from Artificial intelligence: a combined preprint of papers presented at Artificial Intelligence Sessions of the winter general meeting, New York, N.Y., January 27-February 1, 1963, according to a Google Books search (which provided no preview). Your acronym is new to me, though, and I like it.
Emily said,
September 4, 2009 @ 6:19 pm
Patriotism:
Drugs and medication: gold
Treatments: Song, BRSM, Earl of Bute, Image, Movement
Food and plants: Sergio Leone's 1972 film Duck
Causes: Jew(you can still access "Treatments for Jew" through this), pacifist, political adversary, political opponent
Complications: belated attack, delay wider theatrical run, grow more burning.
Conservative:
Treatments: surgery, conservative treatment, resection, radiotherapy, party, chemotherapy, exercise, conservative Judaism, election, biopsy
Food and plants: ginger ale, ginger product
Causes: Bloomberg, Fox News, dominate moderate wing, costume, Invasive ademocarcinoma
Complications: activity loss, Attack Michael Steele, Damage uterine structural integrity, disappointment
Liberal:
Drugs: marijuana, liberal salt diet
Treatments: Definition, party, college, conservative, liberal education, antibiotics
Food and plants: water intake, melted butter
Causes: choice, 95-seat loss, America, Cyprus dispute, Vatican
Complications: Waste resource, abortion, anger prime minister, Attack Truth About Hillary, Avoid medical therapy, be greatest enemy
möngke said,
September 4, 2009 @ 7:08 pm
I couldn't resist.
Pros of Arab:
Bring Islam
Fastest growing economy
Provide detail
Achieve knowledge
Achieve lasting peace
Allergic disease
Bring art
Cons of Arab:
Arab attack
Invade Sicily
Lose home
Kill Jew
Lose mean
Obese
Struggle
Attack Jew
Diabetes Mellitus
Invade Nubia
and via an on-site suggestion, treatments for Arab Attack:
Haganah convoy (pretty accurate IMO)
Atil
Capture
Citroen 2CV
Deadly force
… priceless.
Nick Lamb said,
September 4, 2009 @ 9:28 pm
They explicitly list Wikipedia as an "authoritative health source" even though Wikipedia makes clear that isn't and doesn't want to be authoritative and that you should consult primary sources.
That's a step beyond mere incompetence, anyone thinking of dealing with Netbase needs to keep in mind that not only does their technology output useless gibberish, but the company itself is happy to make false claims about other people's information.
[(myl) But it could be, and is, worse — HealthBase also features information from naturalnews.com, which tells us that vaccines cause autism, that cow's milk is a deadly poison, that herbal remedies will cure breast cancer by cleansing the lymphatic system, that homeopathy is an effective treatment for malaria and AIDS, while HIV is not the cause of AIDS, etc., etc. ]
Kenny Easwaran said,
September 5, 2009 @ 2:11 am
On a hunch, I tried "homosexuality" and it's been blocked too. But "heterosexuality" gives some interesting results.
Treatments:
Homosexuality
Nineteen eighty four
Qualitative research design
Age
Appearance
Causes:
Force
Complications:
HIV Infection
Myth
Through the "treatment" link I managed to get Pros and Cons of Homosexuality:
Pros:
Advance political agendum [sic]
Control overpopulation
Describe adult sexuality
Encompass entire social identity
Examine four-dimensional concept
Invisible status
Offer hope
Present reality
Remarkable
Shape social psychological adjustment
Cons:
HIV infection
Unnatural
Abnormal
Crime
Lower reproductive success
Morally wrong
AIDS
HIV
Affect Communist Party
Alien
The Pros and Cons of Heterosexuality aren't as interesting (and are a proper subset of earlier lists).
Emily said,
September 5, 2009 @ 11:07 am
Treatments[for heterosexuality]:
Nineteen eighty four
Puts a whole new spin on "He loved Big Brother".
Kenny Easwaran said,
September 5, 2009 @ 12:39 pm
I should also mention that the Pro for "language log" is "good article" while the Con is "sustain consistent criticism". Sounds like you're doing a good job!
Jan said,
September 9, 2009 @ 2:26 am
After doing some searches, it seems that they have removed Wikipedia as a resource. That was probably the best thing to do. In any case, results for 'aids' and 'depression' look a lot saner, now.
Dennis Brennan said,
September 9, 2009 @ 5:46 pm
Cures for "Catholicism" includd "stem cell research".
John Rehling said,
September 10, 2009 @ 9:41 am
A launch like this creates bad buzz for the entire field of NLP, but all of these problems are fixable, and a stronger showing is possible if they're put into place:
http://nlpconfidential.blogspot.com/2009/09/medicine-for-healthbase.html
Dan Parvaz said,
September 12, 2009 @ 8:48 pm
Note that the system was smart enough not to recommend Dr. Brown.
Jew is a cause of AIDS. - Gamethreat said,
September 15, 2009 @ 9:57 am
[…] proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. More hilarious results can be found in the comments to this post at Language Log. Some of them have been fixed since the comments were posted; others remain as […]
New artificial intelligence medical search engine fails hilariously said,
September 17, 2009 @ 9:20 am
[…] claimed that AIDS is caused by "Jew" and that you cure "Jew" with Dr. Pepper and salt. […]