Research · October 1966 — 1968
Semantic networks
Quillian represented a word's meaning as a node in a graph linked to other nodes, and showed how to find what two concepts share.
Why it matters
Knowledge was first represented as a structure a machine traverses rather than a list of statements, the ancestor of knowledge graphs.
The model found an intersection by spreading out from two nodes at once, and explained why people connect nearby concepts more easily. Minsky's frames, Schank's scripts and description logics descend from it. Present-day knowledge graphs keep the same structure of nodes and typed edges.
Event record
- Event date
- October 1966 – 1968
- Timeline date
- Event date
- Verification
- Sources gathered automatically · September 17, 2026
- Lines
- ID
- evt-0112
The BBN report is dated October 1966; the text was reissued in Minsky's 1968 collection. The anchor is the collection.
Records that link to this one
- Related Frames
A frame adds to a network of concepts a structure of expectations with fillable slots.
- Related Scripts, Plans, Goals and Understanding
Meaning comes from a structure of expectations, not only from links between concepts.
- Extends Bayesian networks
A graph of concepts acquires probabilistic semantics and a rule for propagating evidence.
Bayesian Networks: A Model of Self-Activated Memory for Evidential Reasoning - Related PageRank and web scale
A node's importance is derived from link structure, as in semantic networks, but at web scale.
- Related WordNet: a dictionary arranged by meanings
The same shape as Quillian’s semantic networks: node, arc, node. The specification does not cite them - the words semantic net occur zero times in it - so this is a reading alongside, not a claim of descent.
- Related RDF: a fact as a triple with a global address
The same shape as Quillian’s semantic networks: node, arc, node. The specification does not cite them - the words semantic net occur zero times in it - so this is a reading alongside, not a claim of descent.