A Simple AI Capable of Basic Reading Comprehension

OP - Instead of linking directly to en/Stanford Parser etc, you should get together a list of dependencies people need to run your application. Usually as easy as 'pip install pattern' (for the 'ImportError: No module named en') which is `import pattern.en` :-)

I like it! It's nearly 2am so better catch some sleep, but I'm definitely going to have a look further tomorrow.

Any successful implementation of comprehension must progressively enhance the world model based on additional information. Furthermore it must understand some basic rules, such as, "Any subject, set of subjects, or actions can be represented multiple ways."

So if you said, "Mary's brother is Sam," or "Mary has a brother named Sam," or "Mary's brother is named Sam," the world model must collocate the meanings "Sam" and "brother" for Mary and be able to respond to queries about either.

Further, if you mention that John also has a brother named Sam, and then you mention Sam in an ambiguous context, the program should be smart enough to ask, "Which Sam? Mary's brother or John's?" Infocom games did this; you are building a more flexible world model builder, but the parser would operate similarly.

There is also the concept of recency. If I talk about "John's brother Sam", ignoring the fact that pronoun references to "he" should be contextually mapped correctly, and then mention Sam, the program should not need to ask which Sam I mean. It would be like talking to someone who wasn't paying attention.

Finally, there is also the concept of confidence. In the face of ambiguity that can't be resolved, a confidence rating should be assigned based on available information and future answers should be based on that confidence.

I suspect that if someone were to create a language parser that could create a mostly-accurate world model AND modify itself based on new rules it read (e.g., "When some says 'he' after referring to someone's name, they are almost certainly talking about the man they previously referred to"), you would be 90% of the way to creating a useful virtual intelligence. It would of course not be able to reason or have opinions of its own, but it would be extremely useful as a virtual assistant that could learn your preferences over time.

That should probably be the first thing ;-) Every word has a probable meaning, and when all of them fit together into a coherent way including context, then the meaning is correct (probably). This also encompasses the use of pronouns, which you touch on. An inability to resolve ambiguity should also point to the appropriate question to ask for clarification, which you also mentioned. I think your points are all great, just wanted to point out that I think the notion of confidence should be more central.

I'd also go as far as saying part of the internal model of the world should also have a confidence. Any failure to understand a sentence may actually be a problem with its world view. But now I'm rambling.