Web 3.0 – the Semantic Web

I came across this post on the Read/Write Web blog which will probably interest the more technically minded of you. The post is titled "The Road to the Semantic Web" and the basic premise is that what we may called Web 3.0 will be the Semantic Web. So what is the Semantic Web? Wikipedia described the Semantic Web as follows (note that this definition is not universally accepted):

a project that intends to create a universal medium for information exchange by putting documents with computer-processable meaning (semantics) on the World Wide Web

As I understand the concept of the Semantic Web, it will be an intelligent version of the Web as we know it. We will be able to ask questions and have them answered intelligently and appropriately. It is a progression from a Web that contains a wealth of information that is made available using increasingly complex rules to a Web that deals in knowledge and perhaps borders on an innate form of intelligence. This, as I understand it, is one reason why some people talk more about artificial intelligence when they talk about Web 3.0. So would Web 4.0 be a self-aware Internet?

I recommend the full article on Read/Write Web. I confess that it is a little involved for me at this point so I am interested in any feedback you may have? I would certainly like to see more about the Semantic Web and how it will evolve although I suspect this, too, would be an evolving discussion.

Tags: web 3.0, semantic web, artificial intelligence, intelligent Web