Encyclopedia Britannica published a printed encyclopedia since 1768 before it was discontinued in 2012. Since 2012, their encyclopedia has only been offered online like Wikipedia but with verified information first. To stay relevant, Encyclopedia Britannica now offers software for education. Starting this year, it has also entered the arena of artificial intelligence (AI).
Using existing content, Britannica, which is the parent company that owns the rights to Encyclopedia Britannica and the Merriam-Webster thesaurus, has trained an AI that can be used as a tutor to teach children. It can also help teachers create lesson plans in the classroom. At this point, this AI-powered chatbot only supports English.
The generative AI that was developed is also used to facilitate the use of the Merriam-Webster thesaurus that can understand longer phrases and not just words. This is the next evolution for Britannica, which previously offered teaching software to educational institutions after demand for printed dictionaries declined due to the introduction of the internet.