Computer implemented method for the automated analysis or use of data

A computer implemented method for automated analysis or use of data, comprising the steps of:

• (a) storing or accessing in a memory store a structured, machine-readable representation of data that conforms to a machine-readable language;
• in which the data includes personal health or medical data;
• (b) automatically processing the structured representation to analyse the personal health or medical data;
• in which the method includes the step of
• (c) the machine-readable language representing a question in a memory in the structured, machine-readable representation of data;
• and the method further includes the step of
• (d) automatically generating a response to the question, using the following steps:
• (i) matching the question with the structured, machine-readable representations of data previously stored in the memory store;
• (ii) fetching and executing one or more computation units, wherein the computation units represent computational capabilities relevant to answering the question;
• (iii) fetching and execution of one or more reasoning passages, which are structured, machine-readable representations of data that represent semantics of potentially applicable reasoning steps relevant to answering the question;
• and
• in which the representation of the question, the structured, machine-readable representations of data previously stored in the memory store, the computation units and the reasoning passages are all represented in the same machine-readable language;
• in which the machine-readable language used to represent the question, the structured, machine-readable representations of data previously stored in the memory store, the computation units and the reasoning passages uses semantic nodes and passages to represent the question, the structured, machine-readable representations of data previously stored in the memory store, the computation units and the reasoning passages;
• and in which each semantic node represents a respective entity which is represented by a respective identifier;
• and each passage is either (i) a semantic node or (ii) a combination of semantic nodes;
• and where machine-readable meaning comes from choice of semantic nodes and the way they are combined and ordered as passages;
• in which the machine-readable language:
• (I) uses a syntax that is a single shared syntax that applies to passages that represent factual statements, query statements and reasoning statements;
• (II) uses a syntax that is an unambiguous syntax comprising nesting of structured representations of data;
• and (III) uses an identifier selected from an address space that is sufficiently large to enable users to select a new identifier with negligible risk of selecting a previously allocated identifier;
• and (IV) is scalable.