It has been a while since I updated the Wall. Actually, I have been really busy in engineering life lately – working on one project after another. I think it’s time to write something about my recent endeavors here on the blog.
SARANG – A program that can talk (nearly) like a human!
As a fan of Artificial Intelligence, I have always wondered about the possibility of thinking machines. Tremendous developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are being made these days. Natural Language Processing (NLP) is a branch of AI that deals with machines’ ability of understanding human languages. The applications of NLP can be found in smartphone assistants like Siri, chatbots like ALICE and so on. Chatbots are computer programs that can talk in natural human languages.
I’ve been working on a chatbot of my own since early 2015. It is now complete and is named SARANG – System of Artificial Responses and Neural Guidelines. Isn’t that cool? 🙂
Programmed in AIML (Artificial Intelligence Markup Language), SARANG Bot can reproduce the functions of the human brain with great speed and accuracy. In short, it can chat with you nearly like a person! In fact, you can talk with it online here.
QuickScript – Making machines talk some more
Inspired by the power of AIML, the language in which SARANG Bot is implemented, I thought about creating my own language and platform where conversational programs like chatbots can be created with relative simplicity. So in January during my winter vacations, I started developing the new project, and a fundamental working model was ready by the end of the month. Later, some of my friends also joined in improving the work and hence, an open source, simple and easy to learn NLP platform called QuickScript was born.
It is intended to generate wider interest in the field of AI and virtual conversational agents. With QuickScript, you can create interactive systems ranging from simple dictionaries to specialized chatbots like child’s play. Hence, it fades the barrier between a normal computer user and a creative botmaster (a person who creates chatbots). The features of QuickScript are inspired by AIML, but the way of writing code has been even more simplified.
You can learn more on the project’s website and GitHub repository.
The Gyancity Website
In the meanwhile, I also got an opportunity to work on a commercial project among all the personal ones! I was approached to build the website of Gyancity Research Labs – an international research group established to promote R&D activities in the field of engineering and technology. I, along with my friend and batchmate Akshay, completed the website and now it is online at gyancity.com.
A New Engineering Portfolio Site
So for managing all this stuff online, I finally created my GitHub account. GitHub is a website where developers can store and manage their projects, contribute to other open source projects and network with like-minded people. I also made a new engineering-portfolio-type website (anirudhkhanna.github.io) to showcase all of my projects, which is also hosted on GitHub. This website will hold my basic introduction as a software engineer, a document of my latest resume and the details of the projects I have worked on or contributed to.
Wall of Wonders 