ServiceNow Podcasts TAKEAWAY - Ontologies Aren’t New with Oscar Corcho
Jan 21, 2026
Dive into the fascinating world of ontologies, where history meets modern AI! Explore how ontologies originated in the 1990s and their role in unifying complex systems like data centers and railways. Discover why human agreements are crucial for effective governance and how large language models can expedite ontology creation. Learn about innovative methods to reduce LLM hallucinations using ontologies, and why treating them as software artifacts is essential in today's tech landscape.
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Ontologies' Evolution Into Data Artifacts
- Ontologies evolved from 1990s expert systems into practical, data-connected artifacts today.
- Modern ontologies link deeply with data and have moved from prototypes to production tools.
Real-World Uses: Data Centers And Railways
- Oscar described a data center company building a network of ontologies to trace root causes across complex systems.
- He also shared a railway example where ontologies harmonized data across 20 countries with differing standards.
Agreement Is The Hard Part
- Agreements are central to ontologies and remain a hard, human-driven part of the process.
- Automation will help but humans still must debate and decide on core agreements.