A new speech and language search engine that could help you find particular subjects discussed in a video lecture, has been developed by MIT scientists in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Regina Barzilay, James Glass and their colleagues say the web-based technology currently allows students and others to search hundreds of MIT lectures for key topics.
“Our goal is to develop a speech and language technology that will help educators provide structure to these video recordings, so it’s easier for students to access the material,” explains Glass. More than 200 MIT lectures are now available at http://web.sls.csail.mit.edu/lectures/ but there is no reason to think that the system could not be scaled to even the most puerile of Youtube video at some point in the future.
Meanwhile, a Cambridge, UK, company has gone into private beta with its natural language search engine. TrueKnowledge is discussed in more detail in an article entitled “What time is it at Google Headquarters?”, which is exactly the kind of question it can help you answer.