In this chapter, we focus on the status of Advanced Computing with Words (ACWW) and the challenges that it may encounter in the future. First, we elaborate on the notion of Computing with Words (CWW) and its various subareas. Then we present some non-engineering ACWW problems and connect them to more realistic engineering problems, after which we provide a roadmap for solving ACWW problems, and show how the Generalized Extension Principle (GEP) can be used to formulate their solutions. We also propose a syllogistic approach to solving ACWW problems that also uses the Extension Principle but in a different way. Finally, we discuss present and future challenges to ACWW, i.e. we explain what challenges ACWW encounters given the current trend of data abundance and widespread use of Internet for dealing with questions posed in natural languages.
Introduction: Computing with Words and Advanced Computing with WordsComputing with Words (CWW or CW) [11,29,34,66,69,70,75,91,104,109,142,144,147,154] was probably conceived as the main area of application of fuzzy logic [132] when the field was originated. It is a methodology of computation whose objects are words rather than numbers, although those words are linked to numbers and classical calculations that can be carried out by computing machinery, via membership functions of fuzzy sets associated with words. To do that, a process called precisiation of meaning [152] is essential, which, in a nutshell, is determining membership functions of the fuzzy sets that model the words. Zadeh distinguishes two subareas for CWW:1. Basic Computing with Words (BCWW), which mainly deals with descriptions of complex systems in terms of fuzzy IF-THEN rules [134]. Soft constraints are generally possibilistic, i.e. they describe (physical) attributes like speed, temperature,