As recently highlighted in the UofT Knolwledge Media Design Institute's recent e-newsletter, Hunch is a fascinating online service, which offers users solutions or answers to specific or broad questions,based on the collective knowledge of the entire Hunch community.Hunch was co-founded by the co-founder of Flickr and several MIT graduates.

From the site: "At the core of Hunch is a question selection algorithm built by our small gaggle of MIT computer scientists with backgrounds in machine learning. The algorithm is always asking itself, "What can I ask you next which will lead to the best possible result for this decision?" The choice of which questions to ask and when to ask them will vary based on what you've already been asked (and how you've answered) so far, the same way that a human expert would adjust a line of questioning based on your responses. The idea is that if someone says they're a vegetarian, you don't want to then immediately ask them how they want their steak cooked."

I put the site to the test, asking it to suggest the type of dog I should own (I already have a dog, a cockapoo). I am happy to say that Hunch not only zeroed in on the type of dog I should have, it actually suggested a cockapoo, the breed I already have.

http://www.hunch.com/