Is making a smart chat bot a good idea for a research project?
I do not think making a chatbot from scratch is a good idea. You should find an existing framework that you like and start from there. There should be plenty of Java resources available.
Also, it is unnecessary to “crawl” Wikipedia, when you can use the DBpedia web service.
See also my quick and dirty webpages:
- 100 Best AI & NLP Resources: Java (Draft) | Meta-Guide.com
- Best DBpedia Videos | Meta-Guide.com
- DBpedia & Dialog Systems | Meta-Guide.com
- DBpedia & Question Answering Systems 2014 | Meta-Guide.com