Artificially intelligent fulfillment system

• US 7,565,377 B2
• Filed: 12/06/2002
• Issued: 07/21/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert Michael Watson
• Original Assignee: Robert Michael Watson
• Inventors: Watson, Robert Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): ALAM, SHAHID AL
• Application Number:
  US10/313,336
• Publication Number:
  US 20040034542A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,419 Days
• Field of Search: 707/6, 707/100, 707/101, 707/102, 707/103.R, 707/104.1, 707/2, 707/5, 706/45, 705/35, 705/14, 705/1, 709/224, 704/239, 704/243, 715/201, 715/210
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

An artificially intelligent system comprising a plurality of autonomous virtual machines, anonymously matching advertisements over a publicly accessible electronic network. The system automates matching of free form electronic documents for supply and demand of goods or services. Each machine employs an expert system with a geographical bias, an inherent learning capability, and tendency to improve accuracy over time. Advertisements and knowledge bases are replicated to identically configured networked machines. Each machine elicits a qualified, interactive response to an advertisement, employing electronic commerce in the purchase of contact information for a supplier, by a demander.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for matching documents of a supplier and demander, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) inputting a document by a supplier, wherein the document includes the supplier'"'"'s profile information and contact information;

(b) inputting a document by a demander, wherein the document includes the demander'"'"'s profile information and contact;

(c) extracting the supplier'"'"'s and demander'"'"'s profile information in said inputted documents to a commonly formatted document record for indexing purposes;

(d) indexing the supplier and demander commonly formatted document records, thereby creating an indexed electronic record of the initially inputted supplier and demander documents;

(e) comparing a supplier indexed electronic record to a demander indexed electronic record, thereby generating a score for each electronic document relative to the electronic document it was compared with;

(f) matching a supplier indexed electronic record to a demander indexed electronic record, such that supplier and demander indexed electronic documents with the most common words or phrases contained therein are matched together;

(g) displaying a match list, wherein the match list is comprised of matched indexed electronic records of a supplier or demander, wherein suppliers are matched to a given demander and demanders are matched to a given supplier; and

(h) allowing a supplier or demander to view the contents of the indexed electronic records contained in said match list.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of indexing the supplier and demander commonly formatted document records to create an indexed electronic record, is a human expert operator that categorizes new words or phrases in the document record with known words or phrases stored in a hierarchal database.

3. The method claim 2, further comprising the step of adding said new words or phrases categorized by the human expert operator to a hierarchal database of words or phrases, thereby creating new hierarchal relationships in the hierarchal database.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of indexing the supplier and demander commonly formatted document records to create an indexed electronic record, is a hierarchal database that stores categories of known words or phrases and compares them to the known words or phrases in the document record.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of indexing the supplier and demander commonly formatted document records to create an indexed electronic record comprises:

a human expert operator that categorizes new words or phrases in the document record with known words or phrases stored in a hierarchal database; and

a hierarchal database that stores categories of known words or phrases and compares them to the known words or phrases in the document record.

6. The method claim 5, further comprising the step of adding said new words or phrases categorized by the human expert operator to said hierarchal, thereby creating new hierarchal relationships in the hierarchal database.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of matching a supplier indexed electronic record to a demander indexed electronic record is scoring dependent, such that supplier and demander indexed electronic documents with the most common words or phrases contained therein receive the highest scores.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of providing an option to the supplier or demander to indicate that a respective electronic record should have a minimum score before being displayed as a match and thereby included on said supplier'"'"'s or demander'"'"'s match list.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of removing said supplier'"'"'s and demander'"'"'s contact information from said document records, thereby making the displayed match list of indexed electronic records to said supplier and demander anonymous.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of allowing a demander to gain access to said supplier'"'"'s contact information.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of allowing a demander to gain access to said supplier'"'"'s contact information is facilitated by a payment by said demander.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of allowing the supplier or demander to provide feedback to the respective matched demander or supplier displayed on said match list.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the feedback comprises whether a given supplier or demander is interested in the respective matched demander or supplier displayed on said match list.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein a geographic information contained in said supplier'"'"'s profile is matched to a geographic information contained in said demander'"'"'s profile, and wherein the step of matching a supplier indexed electronic record to a demander indexed electronic record utilizes geographic similarities contained in said indexed records.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of matching a supplier indexed electronic record to a demander indexed electronic record is done in real-time.

16. A computer-implemented method for matching documents of a supplier and demander, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) inputting a document by a supplier, wherein the document includes the supplier'"'"'s profile information and contact information;

(b) inputting a document by a demander, wherein the document includes the demander'"'"'s profile information and contact information;

(c) extracting the supplier'"'"'s and demander'"'"'s profile information in said inputted documents to a commonly formatted document record for indexing purposes;

(d) indexing the supplier and demander commonly formatted document records, thereby creating an indexed electronic record of the initially inputted supplier and demander documents, wherein the step of indexing the supplier and demander commonly formatted document records to create an indexed electronic record comprises;

a human expert operator that categorizes new words or phrases in the document record with known words or phrases stored in a hierarchal database;

and

a hierarchal database that stores categories of known words or phrases and compares them to the known words or phrases in the document record;

(e) comparing a supplier indexed electronic record to a demander indexed electronic record, thereby generating a score for each electronic document relative to the electronic document it was compared with;

(f) matching a supplier indexed electronic record to a demander indexed electronic record, such that supplier and demander indexed electronic documents with the most common words or phrases contained therein are matched together, wherein the step of matching a supplier indexed electronic record to a demander indexed electronic record is scoring dependent, such that supplier and demander indexed electronic documents with the most common words or phrases contained therein receive the highest scores;

(g) displaying a match list, wherein the match list is comprised of matched indexed electronic records of a supplier or demander, wherein suppliers are matched to a given demander and demanders are matched to a given supplier;

(h) allowing a supplier or demander to view the contents of the indexed electronic records contained in said match list; and

(i) removing said supplier'"'"'s and demander'"'"'s contact information from said document records, thereby making the displayed match list of indexed electronic records to said supplier and demander anonymous.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of providing an option to the supplier or demander to indicate that a respective electronic record should have a minimum score before being displayed as a match and thereby included on said supplier'"'"'s or demander'"'"'s match list.

18. The method claim 16, further comprising the step of adding said new words or phrases categorized by the human expert operator to a hierarchal database of words or phrases, thereby creating new hierarchal relationships in the hierarchal database.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of allowing a demander to gain access to said supplier'"'"'s contact information.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of allowing the supplier or demander to provide feedback to the respective matched demander or supplier displayed on said match list.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the feedback comprises whether a given supplier or demander is interested in the respective matched demander or supplier displayed on said match list.

22. The method of claim 16, wherein a geographic information contained in said supplier'"'"'s profile is matched to a geographic information contained in said demander'"'"'s profile, and wherein the step of matching a supplier indexed electronic record to a demander indexed electronic record utilizes geographic similarities contained in said indexed records.

23. A computer-implemented method for matching one or more candidates to one or more employers, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) inputting a candidate'"'"'s profile, wherein the profile also includes the candidate'"'"'s contact information;

(b) inputting an employer'"'"'s profile, wherein the profile also includes the employer'"'"'s contact information;

(c) extracting the candidate'"'"'s and employer'"'"'s inputted profile information to a commonly formatted document record for indexing purposes;

(d) indexing the candidate and employer commonly formatted document records, thereby creating an indexed electronic record of the initially inputted candidate and employer profiles;

(e) comparing a candidate indexed electronic record to a employer indexed electronic record, thereby generating a score for each electronic document relative to the electronic document it was compared with;

(f) matching a candidate indexed electronic record to a employer indexed electronic record, such that candidate and employer indexed electronic documents with the most common words or phrases contained therein are matched together, wherein the step of matching a candidate indexed electronic record to a employer indexed electronic record is scoring dependent, such that candidate and employer indexed electronic documents with the most common words or phrases contained therein receive the highest scores;

(g) displaying a match list, wherein the match list is comprised of matched indexed electronic records of a candidate or employer, wherein candidates are matched to a given employer and employers are matched to a given candidate; and

(h) allowing a candidate or employer to view the contents of the indexed electronic records contained in said match list.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of removing said candidate'"'"'s and employer'"'"'s contact information from said document records, thereby making the displayed match list of indexed electronic records to said candidate and employer anonymous.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein a geographic information contained in said candidate'"'"'s profile is matched to a geographic information contained in said employer'"'"'s profile, and wherein the step of matching a candidate indexed electronic record to a employer indexed electronic record utilizes geographic similarities contained in said indexed records.