Beta feedback wanted: Smart Search Synopsis
Comments
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Pastor Michael Huffman said:
I have a Logos Pro subscription but do not see this section as I perform a mirror search as Adam.
It's currently only available in the web app. Are you looking there? It will (hopefully) arrive in the desktop app in v36.
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Thanks Mark. Can you explain the significance of that section? And the best way to use it.
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Morgan said:
It seems to have a hard time understanding my question
Changing "davids" to "David's" helped. Looks like punctuation and capitalization makes a difference.
The question "What does "David" mean?" seemed most helpful.
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This is such great idea. It really adds to the value of smart search.
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I was in a small group on Sunday and used this functionality for the first time IRL. We were studying Luke 18:13 and questioned what the tax collector's beating of his chest a) meant in historical context and b) where else is the Bible this was done. I could have found the information using a traditional Logos search but the Smart Search synopsis did a fantastic job of quickly pulling the information and providing references so we could dig in further. Good stuff Logos!
Windows 11 & macOS 15 (Logos Pro) |iOS 18 (Logos MobileBeta)
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When selecting "All," is the synopsis using every resource in Logos' library as a base for the search? I'm just wondering if having more data that leans to the Reformed end of the theological spectrum would give them more weight in the results than Orthodox, for example, where the resources might be more limited.
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Mark Allison said:
When selecting "All," is the synopsis using every resource in Logos' library as a base for the search? I'm just wondering if having more data that leans to the Reformed end of the theological spectrum would give them more weight in the results than Orthodox, for example, where the resources might be more limited.
In both All Search and Books Search, Logos uses the first five unique resources it finds to create the smart synopsis.
In Logos All Search, we search every book that shows up at logos.com or that you have a license to. In Verbum All Search, we search every book that's sellable at verbum.com or that you have a license to.
In both Logos and Verbum Books Search, we search all books that you have a license to.
Unless you have a very large library that's likely to yield a fairly different synopsis in those two scenarios. But that's about probability, not weighting. In a Books Search, it's more likely that a book that closely matches your theological convictions appears in the top five results because the percentage of books you own that match your theology is likely to be higher than the percentage of books you don't own that match your theology.
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Mark Barnes (Logos) said:Mark Allison said:
When selecting "All," is the synopsis using every resource in Logos' library as a base for the search? I'm just wondering if having more data that leans to the Reformed end of the theological spectrum would give them more weight in the results than Orthodox, for example, where the resources might be more limited.
In both All Search and Books Search, Logos uses the first five unique resources it finds to create the smart synopsis.
In Logos All Search, we search every book that shows up at logos.com or that you have a license to. In Verbum All Search, we search every book that's sellable at verbum.com or that you have a license to.
In both Logos and Verbum Books Search, we search all books that you have a license to.
Unless you have a very large library that's likely to yield a fairly different synopsis in those two scenarios. But that's about probability, not weighting. In a Books Search, it's more likely that a book that closely matches your theological convictions appears in the top five results because the percentage of books you own that match your theology is likely to be higher than the percentage of books you don't own that match your theology.
Thanks for that clear explanation Mark, that's really helpful.
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Mark Barnes (Logos) said:
because the percentage of books you own that match your theology is likely to be higher than the percentage of books you don't own that match your theology.
You realize that especially for long term users who bought the default standard bundles and for the many theological strands poorly represented in Logos e.g. Moravians, Mennonites, Stone-Campbell movements, Coptic ... that this statement is not true
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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MJ. Smith said:
You realize that especially for long term users who bought the default standard bundles and for the many theological strands poorly represented in Logos e.g. Moravians, Mennonites, Stone-Campbell movements, Coptic ... that this statement is not true
This is why my searches for personal study are against carefully-crafted Collections that I continue to tweak.
Senior Publisher Relations Specialist
Logos Bible Software0 -
MJ. Smith said:Mark Barnes (Logos) said:
because the percentage of books you own that match your theology is likely to be higher than the percentage of books you don't own that match your theology.
You realize that especially for long term users who bought the default standard bundles and for the many theological strands poorly represented in Logos e.g. Moravians, Mennonites, Stone-Campbell movements, Coptic ... that this statement is not true
You could create specific collections and run your search on them. But that would limit your search to your own resources. What would be cool is if Logos could add denominational categories for an "All" search like they do in the Factbook.
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I found that to focus the search on a book I am studying, then asking questions, is a very useful and interesting things to be able to do.
I think this is one of the best things Logos have done with AI so far. Looking forward to it being available in the desktop and mobile platforms.
Formatting and longer answers would help, that would also improve the summarize tool.
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I am finding that feedback from an array of AI services provides best results. The team usually outshines the individual. Think of NASA's famous "Lost on the Moon" exercise. I am reluctant to limit myself to one in Logos at this time.
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I'm constantly amazed at the power of Logos' AI implementation. I was recently researching a pretty obscure topic, and the AI search handled it flawlessly. Here's the scenario: I'm trying to understand why Accordance treats λέγω as the lemma for ῥηθὲν, but Logos uses εἶπον as the lemma (they both acknowledge that λέγω is the root). I thought it might be because εἶπον is a defective Greek verb, but I wasn't sure. So I searched for: "Is εἶπον a defective greek verb?" Here's the AI summary and it's so good:
εἶπον is an aorist form of the Greek verb λέγω, meaning "to say" or "to speak"[1]. While the search results don't explicitly state whether it's defective, they show that εἶπον is part of an irregular verb paradigm, serving as the aorist tense for λέγω. This suggests it's not a typical defective verb, but rather part of a suppletive paradigm where different roots are used for different tenses of the same verb[1][2][3].
[1] Newman, Barclay M. A Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament, Revised Edition, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft; United Bible Societies, 2010, p. 54.
[2] Friberg, Timothy, et al. Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, vol. 4, Baker Books, 2000, p. 132.
[3] The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Septuagint, Lexham Press, 20120 -
Mark Allison said:
I'm constantly amazed at the power of Logos' AI implementation.
I agree. Thank you Faithlife for the great work you are doing with AI in the search tool. Your work with the Factbook is also stellar. THANK YOU.
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Frankly, in the past I have always been frustrated. by Logos Bible software. I've been using the desktop and mobile version to prepare for small group studies and to occasionally preach. In short, I've always felt the execution fell short of the promise. The promise seemed to be that Logos would help me easily find resources in my curated library that address the question at hand. In reality, it seems that the software often seemed to NOT identify resources that I KNOW addressed the question. As well, while the search tools were powerful, I never had enough patience to memorize the syntax required to get useful results. Finally, I found it frustrating as well that I usually needed to leave the desktop app and launch my web browser to review and purchase new Logos books/resources for my desktop app - the links to purchase books referenced in the desktop app never seemed to work for me.
So, I am cautiously optimistic regarding Smart Search. I am looking into counseling men at our church, so using the web app I asked something like how to counsel men regarding pornography use. I would capture the search results in a screen grab - but that window on my Mac is hidden by this "Logos Web App" window - suggested feature improvement.
Suffice it to say that I found the search synopsis impressively helpful. The results tagged good resources in my library, the summary provided a helpful overview of the issue (no arcane search syntax required), and thanks to the very-well-executed links to the logos store, I found several counseling books that I had never considered before, and the ease of reviewing the contents of the books and purchasing them made Logos a bunch of money. I've been searching for a book on the Theology of Counseling by Heath Lambert for the last several months using the "point your web browser at the Logos website" method, and could only find the book in Spanish. Using Smart Search I found it right away, and somehow it was only $9.00. Purchasing the book was easy peasy, and the resource loaded up relatively quickly on my older MacBook Air.
So, Logos' new approach appears to be off to a promising start, and a likely win/win. I can easily get answers to my questions from the curated resources in my library, I can quickly identify and review additional resources I might like to purchase to provide further info, and Logos is able to sell effectively notify me of their digital books that meet my needs and sell/deliver them with minimal friction. Color my cautiously optimistic.
Going forward, what I hope to see is a tight integration between the questions I ask and the resources I own. It would be nice to be able to prioritize the resources that show up in the answer. It still seems as if some of my favorite resources are not being included in the answer or bulleted list. Overall though, I am super impressed - Logos is meeting and surpassing my past expectations.
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PS - never mind regarding the Wiki window hiding the Web App. The App window was in back of the Wiki app window.
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I was impressed by the synopsis feature except that it doesn't differentiate between which books I own or not. The little lock icon would be nice to save me opening books I don't have.
Further the ability to constrain 'All' search to books I own would be nice too.
גַּם־חֹשֶׁךְ֮ לֹֽא־יַחְשִׁ֪יךְ מִ֫מֶּ֥ךָ וְ֭לַיְלָה כַּיּ֣וֹם יָאִ֑יר כַּ֝חֲשֵׁיכָ֗ה כָּאוֹרָֽה
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Ive worked last day´s really hard with this tool and from my point of view it´s fantastic. It's easy to use and the results are very nice. short summary´s of big Topics. Mostly I need hours to create such summary´s. With this tool it's just seconds. Just check the data and proof it, that's it.
really nice. Does this tool will apply to the Logos program on Mac or just in the web app?
If it will be apply to the program, you know when it will go live there?
Thanks!
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Sascha said:
Does this tool will apply to the Logos program on Mac or just in the web app?
If it will be apply to the program, you know when it will go live there?
Smart Search Synopsis is in beta testing on desktop and mobile at the moment. So, assuming there are no problems, it should ship to the stable channel on desktop next week and mobile some time in the next few weeks (I’m not sure exactly what ship cycle the mobile apps work on)
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"BUB: Smart Search Synopsis in Portuguese"
An error occurs in the Synopsis when I perform a search with the software set to Portuguese. It says, "Something went wrong generating the synopsis" of the search and suggests trying again. This happens whether I conduct the search in English or Portuguese.
I tested this in the stable version of Logos and in Verbum Beta 36 in Windows 11.
The same error occurs on Android as well.
However, when I change the software interface to English, the synopsis works correctly.____________
"... And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." (Ne 8.10)
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Anderson Abreu said:
"BUB: Smart Search Synopsis in Portuguese"
An error occurs in the Synopsis when I perform a search with the software set to Portuguese. It says, "Something went wrong generating the synopsis" of the search and suggests trying again. This happens whether I conduct the search in English or Portuguese.
I tested this in the stable version of Logos and in Verbum Beta 36 in Windows 11.
The same error occurs on Android as well.
However, when I change the software interface to English, the synopsis works correctly.Thanks for the bug report and sorry for the trouble. Portuguese synopsis should be fixed now. Let us know if you come across any other issues.
-Ronny
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I've created a collection (which you can download here) of the best academic authors I know and when I do an intelligent search I select “Books” (mine) and narrow down the search with the collection. It's been fantastic to do this and the synopsis gives me a lot more confidence. (Do a test by taking the published collection --- you can change the authors if you want, I know that in part the list can be subjective with my preferences).
However, I can only imagine the power of this combined with the AI search in “All”, but delimited by my collection (or others).
I know it seems counterintuitive to search “All” but restrict the search. However, this brings the best of all worlds: 1) it searches the entire Logos store library (including most I don't have); 2) it gives me the security of searching for authors I trust or even those I want to research and understand; 3) it introduces me to works I might want to buy to read in depth.
Can we hope that this will lead to intelligent research in “All”?
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"... And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." (Ne 8.10)
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Anderson Abreu said:
I've created a collection (which you can download here) of the best academic authors I know and when I do an intelligent search I select “Books” (mine) and narrow down the search with the collection.
Great collection, thanks, that will be a very handy filter for searching.
I probably should make one for acedemics I don’t like but I am too lazy.
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