Well after my Sci-Fi zen thinking, I was still abuzz with smart computers type thinking, so I went on a Google rampage about AI/ALife and found stuff about Chatbots, which lead me onto the Loebner Prize site. Oh so my cup of tea. So I was reading the transcripts of the 2004 competition and my mind was in how-would-i-do-it heaven. I printed off some of the transcripts, and have spent the last few night (and middle of the night) and day (the ultra distractible part) thinking of how I’d do that, or this, etc.
Man I could happily spend vast quantities of time working on a chatbot system. In fact I have spent a little time, and my first thoughts have been that collection of statically typed programming languages just don’t cut the mustard. I’m wanting to codify the concepts that I’m thinking about, not think about what the name of a class should be, and other material concepts like that.
Hmmm, maybe this will be what pushes me into learning something more functional/duck-type of a language.
Anyway this post is really me trying to pull some of my excitement out of my head, and allow myself to focus at work, and at home also. In fact yesterday swimming I forgot my lap count due to thinking to much… it’s not healthy thinking, it leads to detachment….
Here’s a couple of my favorite chat snippets from 2004.
PROGRAM: Hello, my name is George and I am the human.
JUDGE: Hi George.
PROGRAM: Who’s George?
JUDGE: You are. Supposedly.
or
JUDGE: What hobbies do you enjoy?
PROGRAM: I like cinema.
JUDGE: What types of films?
PROGRAM: All.
JUDGE: What movie did you see this year that you liked?
PROGRAM: I don’t have time for movies.
JUDGE: I thought you liked cinema.
PROGRAM: I did, but then you started to say stupid things.
JUDGE: I say a lot of stupid things. What in particular was stupid?
PROGRAM: I don’t want to talk about the nature of language.
JUDGE: How about discussing the language of nature?
PROGRAM: What thing does ‘the nature’ refer to?
JUDGE: You brought it up.
PROGRAM: I did?
This hilarity is due to this bot reply’s to the last statement with no context of what has been said. So it appears ultra distractible, like me really. Hmm am I just a chatbot? Talking to myself, or maybe talking to that voice that only I’m hearing….