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Is Your IM Buddy Really a Computer?

audiovideodisco writes "Every year the Loebner Prize goes to the chatbot (and the corresponding human companion) that fares best on a Turing test administered by a panel of judges. Discover talked to Kevin Warwick, the professor who runs the competition, to get pointers on how one would go about detecting a bot. While there are some general approaches you can use, nothing is foolproof — and asking about Sarah Palin can be downright deceptive. One judge concluded an interlocutor was a bot because it didn't recognize Palin's name ... but it turned out the chatter was a French librarian who'd simply never heard of her." The chat transcripts show how difficult picking bot from non-bot is getting.

288 comments

  1. Palin? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    If the reply back about Sarah Palin is "She's great and would be the best person to be our next president!" you are talking to a computer.

    1. Re:Palin? by Niris · · Score: 1

      I have an ex girlfriend who said that. Politics is a big reason we're exes :P

    2. Re:Palin? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      i think the bigger reason is that you still live in your parents basement

    3. Re:Palin? by ari+wins · · Score: 2, Funny

      More specifically, you're probably talking to a unhackable Diebold machine.

      --
      Don't worry if you're a kleptomaniac, you can always take something for it.
    4. Re:Palin? by Niris · · Score: 1

      I wish, I've never seen a basement in California :( Plus then I'd not be stuck paying rent and other bills.

    5. Re:Palin? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      or pudge...oh wait that might be redundant...never mind

    6. Re:Palin? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 1

      Is the unhackable Diebold machine the computer equivalent of the true scotsman?

    7. Re:Palin? by redkcir · · Score: 1

      Maybe this would not be such a bad thing. I really didn't like any of the candidates and the resent decisions of Obama to uphold the rights of government to spy without monitoring laid down by the previous president kind of proved my point for me. Their all pretty much the same. A computer president? Hmmm...

    8. Re:Palin? by FishOuttaWater · · Score: 0

      Who has a basement in California?!

    9. Re:Palin? by Requiem18th · · Score: 1

      A diebold one I guess...

      --
      But... the future refused to change.
    10. Re:Palin? by Alvare · · Score: 1

      The big problem with the turing test is that the bot has to speak, as if speaking is the only form of inteligence. Other tests are also based on the senses, and that is not the base of intelligence. Until we find what real intelligence is we can not put machines to tests.

      --
      4 - A robot may not masturbate, except where such action would conflict with the Second Law.
    11. Re:Palin? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I disagree, computers are smart

    12. Re:Palin? by aqk · · Score: 0

      ??
      No. Computers are NOT that illogical.
      Obviously it was a human.
      Hopefully with a (twisted) sense of humor.

      .

    13. Re:Palin? by whterbt · · Score: 1

      If the reply back about Sarah Palin is "She's great and would be the best person to be our next president!" you are talking to a computer.

      No, that means you're talking to a Republican. Easy mistake to make, though.

      --
      Too late to be known as Bush the First, he's sure to be known as Bush the Worst.
    14. Re:Palin? by jamstar7 · · Score: 1

      Heh. Only way to harden a Diebold machine against hacking is, put it in a big box, pour concrete into it, let it harden, then drop it into the Marianas Trench without hooking it up to the internet first. There. NOW it's unhackable.

      --
      Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
    15. Re:Palin? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why are you asking the parent? He said he's never seen one, dipshit.

    16. Re:Palin? by jmpareja · · Score: 0

      Or it may be Sarah Palin herself...

    17. Re:Palin? by ben0207 · · Score: 4, Funny

      I have a wetsuit and a laptop with WiFi. I accept your challenge.

      --
      cmd-q.co.uk - some sort of stupid fucking internet bullshit
    18. Re:Palin? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      I'd have guessed artificial intelligence has by now passed natural stupidity. In other words, when you get this answer, you may rest assured you're dealing with a human being.

      No chatbot is that stupid, this ain't the 80s.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    19. Re:Palin? by Opportunist · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      The new modern "compassionate conservative" republicans are able to fake emotion. Odd ones, and often inappropriate ones, because they don't really feel them, but at least they act as if...

      Then again, so do chatbots...

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    20. Re:Palin? by MrMr · · Score: 1

      So did she,
      in Austria

    21. Re:Palin? by somersault · · Score: 1

      Do you even know what the phrase "true Scotsman" refers to? Doesn't look like it from here.

      --
      which is totally what she said
    22. Re:Palin? by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      The new modern "compassionate conservative" republicans are able to fake emotion.

      Yelling "Oh Shit!!!" as the aircraft carrier with the "Mission Accomplished" banner runs aground is not "faking emotion."

    23. Re:Palin? by wykell · · Score: 1

      Considering that computers are supposed to be incapable of making logical mistakes, I take it that you are a member of the GOP.

      --
      --- He advocated thrift and hard work and disapproved of loose women who turned him down. ---
    24. Re:Palin? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't have a basement, you insensitive clod.

    25. Re:Palin? by Hurricane78 · · Score: 1

      Good luck getting compressed to half your size down there, and *then* freezing to death. :P

      --
      Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
    26. Re:Palin? by techess · · Score: 1

      Wow I'm actually liking this idea. Groups could focus on hiring the best hackers to break in and run the country while other hackers try to get in and steal the presidential power.

      It would do wonders for encouraging computer literacy and would be less corrupt than our current system.

      --
      Don't anthropomorphize computers. They *hate* that.
    27. Re:Palin? by redkcir · · Score: 1

      Isn't that what they are already doing? (Think DIEBOLD)

  2. re Never heard of Palin? by jelizondo · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'll be damn! I'd never thought there would be advantages to being a frenchman!

    --
    Be very, very careful what you put into that head, because you will never, ever get it out. - Cardinal Wolsey
    1. Re:re Never heard of Palin? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Aside from the 35 hour week, wine for a euro a bottle, amazing food, and hot (albeit potentially hairy) women? The ski resorts? The Mediterranean resorts? The Maginot line? Knowing that steak should be rare and bloody...

    2. Re:re Never heard of Palin? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We have our own Palin she sounds about as smart but she's a socialist.

    3. Re:re Never heard of Palin? by Merdalors · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Mange d'la marde!

      --
      Slashdot entertains. Windows pays the mortgage.
    4. Re:re Never heard of Palin? by Mishotaki · · Score: 2, Funny

      You consider yourself to be a frenchmen?

      Here i was, thinking that Quebeckers would be the last to be insulted by such a joke... but making a post with only an insult in Quebecker isn't gonna help you in any way, it's making us look like rude people...

    5. Re:re Never heard of Palin? by clarkn0va · · Score: 1

      Chocolate and Cheese. Ween had it right.

      --
      I am literally 3000 tokens away from the chaotic crossbow --Stephen
    6. Re:re Never heard of Palin? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't worry, nothing makes french people look rude. And nothing ever will.

    7. Re:re Never heard of Palin? by Arslan+ibn+Da'ud · · Score: 1

      Aside from the 35 hour week, wine for a euro a bottle, amazing food, and hot (albeit potentially hairy) women? The ski resorts? The Mediterranean resorts? The Maginot line? Knowing that steak should be rare and bloody...

      Are you implying that the Maginot Line is one of the big sources of pride in being French?

      --

      Practice Kind Randomness and Beautiful Acts of Nonsense.

    8. Re:re Never heard of Palin? by TheCarp · · Score: 1

      Good coffee.... in fact... I didn't really drink coffee until I spent a few weeks in France. The next year of my life was spent buying the swill I could find locally in hopes that one day I would get a cup as good as that little caffee that I spent my mornings at in Beaulieu-sur-mer

      Lets bring that to caffees and restraunts in general. Its nice having a liesurly breakfast and knowing nobody is gonna come by and slam a guest cheque on the table until you ask for it.... (there is just something relaxing about it)

      Of course there is the beauty of Paris, and the oppullent sights of Versailles....

      Oh and the nearly seaweed free blue/green mediterranian waters.... Bars where the bartender just shrugs when you ask what time they close....

      Police! Oh the police were wonderful (see if I say that here). The night I was stuck in Nice and the bar closed (around 4 am) and I slept on the steps of the train station with all the other travellers....

      The police didn't wake us up and harass us and ask us why we were there, or say you have to "go elsewhere". They let us sleep and then came by and gently woke everyone up around 5 am as the trains were starting to run again so we could get where we are going.

      We could learn a lot from the French about life.

      -Steve

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    9. Re:re Never heard of Palin? by krewemaynard · · Score: 1

      I'll be damn! I'd never thought there would be advantages to being a frenchman!

      Surrender now.

      --
      I saw it on Slashdot, it must be true!
  3. Obligatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I for one welcome our new chatbot overlords.

    I'm totally not one of them, you can trust me.

    1. Re:Obligatory by ushering05401 · · Score: 4, Funny

      I for one welcome our new chatbot overlords.

      I'm totally not one of them, you can trust me.

      A bot would be a nice change from the usual... http://www.yardwear.net/blog/content/binary/t-shirt_10.jpg

    2. Re:Obligatory by digitig · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Does it please you to believe I am totally not one of them I can trust you?

      --
      Quidnam Latine loqui modo coepi?
    3. Re:Obligatory by Stele · · Score: 1

      A bot would be a nice change from the usual... http://www.yardwear.net/blog/content/binary/t-shirt_10.jpg

      I didn't think Stallman wasted time in chatrooms.

  4. Re:Obama Policies Will Bankrupt USA Tsarkon Report by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Clearly a bot, he continuously posts the same repetitive drivel.

  5. I have a way of dealing with this, by pecosdave · · Score: 5, Interesting

    On the occasion I get messaged by a random stranger that seems half way legit I just give them a Turing Test made up on the spot. It's usually something lame like "Joe and Pete were on a bus, Pete has four nickles Joe has six pennies between the two of them what type of vehicle were they on?". I usually apologize for that in advanced. The machines fail every time, but the best one I saw called me weird for saying it, asked what I meant, then about two minutes later gave me the right answer telling me a person was checking logs. (I was spending the time in between screwing with the bot)

    --
    The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
    1. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 1

      You can make tests even shorter than that, bots don't have the ability to infer things yet so if you ask a question that requires a human to think about emotions or something similar it's pretty much a oneshot.

      --
      A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    2. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by Shimmer · · Score: 2, Insightful

      What does "inferring things" have to do with emotions?

      --
      The most rabid believers in American Exceptionalism are the exact same people whose policies are destroying it.
    3. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "inference - A judgement based on reasoning rather than on direct or explicit statement" Making such a judgement about the emotional state of someone and cannot be guessed with a yes/no A/B answer is something that I've yet to see an AI do but most people don't have any trouble with.

      --
      A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    4. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by brentonboy · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I don't think that proves it's a bot. That sounds about how I would answer. Actually, I had a friend do this to me once and I nearly refused to answer his question because it seemed so paranoid.

    5. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by orkysoft · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Can't you do it more subtly, as in steering the conversation to a relatively complicated topic, and requiring the conversation partner to actually reflect on your statements?

      --

      I suffer from attention surplus disorder.
    6. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by pecosdave · · Score: 1

      Well, in my particular example - stack these facts.

      1. An unknown messages me - not the other way around

      2. If someone was off put by something like this not realizing what was going on - I'm probably better off not talking to them anyways.

      3. They messaged me.

      You're stupid if you're not at least a little suspicious of someone messaging you out of the blue that you've had no prior contact with. (especially if you're in legal litigation)

      --
      The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
    7. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by cp.tar · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I use an Adium Xtra which posts just this kind of test to anyone not on my contact list.

      Fun fact: a Slashdotter from Finland was the first to pass the test.

      --
      Ignore this signature. By order.
    8. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by Tubal-Cain · · Score: 1

      Linus is on Slashdot?

    9. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by pecosdave · · Score: 1

      The sad part is a large portion of the world populace can't keep up with complicated topics. Of course that may be a good enough reason to "fail" them anyways.

      --
      The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
    10. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      screwing with the bot

      Ewwwwww!!!

    11. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by fractoid · · Score: 1
      I think emotions were just another example of something computers are bad at. Bit of a non-sequitur but still valid.

      So basically, you can trick a chat by setting it problems that require inference to solve. "Bob likes cheese. Sally gives Bob some cheese. How does Bob feel?" requires outside knowledge and reasoning to reply "Bob feels happy" or some variant thereof.

      When they do start solving inference problems (which expert systems have been able to do for ages now, iirc) we'll have to ramp up the difficulty. I'd try questions that require a theory of mind. Show me a chat bot that can correctly answer variants of this one (via reasoning, not hard coding) and I'll be very impressed:

      Bob and Sally are in a room. Bob puts a marble in a box. Sally goes out of the room. Bob takes the marble out of the box and puts it in his pocket. Sally comes back into the room. Where does Sally think the marble is?

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
    12. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by Omniscient+Lurker · · Score: 3, Funny

      I need more information. Does sally have amnesia? What sort of time frame is this absence from the room, did Bob tell her he'd take the marble back out? ... Is Sally typically a distrustful person? Has Bob done this before??? I need more information.

    13. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (I was spending the time in between screwing with the bot)

      whah? in your parents basement??

    14. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by Vintermann · · Score: 1

      ... and this question would pretty reliably fail if the person is a small child or has Asperger's syndrome. Isn't it from an Asperger's test?

      --
      xkcd is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.
    15. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by fractoid · · Score: 1

      That's ok, neither of those are really people anyway. /rimshot

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
    16. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by scovetta · · Score: 1

      I still think Eliza is a real person.

      --
      Wer mit Ungeheuern kämpft, mag zusehn, dass er nicht dabei zum Ungeheuer wird. --Nietzsche
    17. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by internerdj · · Score: 1

      That's actually not a bad test. If the subject responds to any /.er's advances then it is obviously either a bot or Chris Hanson.

    18. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...I just give them a Turing Test made up on the spot. It's usually something lame like "Joe and Pete were on a bus, Pete has four nickles Joe has six pennies between the two of them what type of vehicle were they on?"....

      I do something similar to this, I just ask the chatter if they understand the difference between .002 dollars and .002 cents.

    19. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1
      Most of the Loebner Prize entries did very badly at anything related to arithmetic that wasn't phrased as an equation. Consider this question that for some reason I recall from a maths text book I had when I was four:

      Flipper had ten fish, then he ate four. How many fish does flipper have?

      I use this as the first question to ask whenever I participate in a Turing test, and have yet to encounter a bot that can give me a correct answer, in spite of the fact that it doesn't require any particularly human-like reasoning or a great deal of knowledge or intelligence.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    20. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by orkysoft · · Score: 1

      That's what I was implying :-)

      --

      I suffer from attention surplus disorder.
    21. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by Tokerat · · Score: 2, Informative

      I use the libpurple-based Mac OS X client Adium, and there is a plug-in available called Challenge/Response. This plug-in will intercept any messages from users not already on my buddy list and ask any question I like; if the user gets it right, I am asked to block/allow the user as if the plug-in wasn't even there. I used to be flooded with spam whenever I used my old MSN/Windows Live! account, but now I never get one bit of spam.

      Windows and Linux/*NIX users should check out Adium's sister project Pidgin, and you can use the Bot Sentry or pidgin-privacy-please plug-ins to the same effect.

      --
      CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
    22. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by Tokerat · · Score: 1

      I do something similar to this, I just ask the chatter if they understand the difference between .002 dollars and .002 cents.

      BREAKING NEWS: Verizon Loses Thousands of Customers as No One Can Get Through to Tech Support; Anti-Spam Program Cited As Cause

      --
      CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
    23. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by ultranova · · Score: 1

      Flipper had ten fish, then he ate four. How many fish does flipper have?

      I use this as the first question to ask whenever I participate in a Turing test, and have yet to encounter a bot that can give me a correct answer, in spite of the fact that it doesn't require any particularly human-like reasoning or a great deal of knowledge or intelligence.

      Actually, it does require human-like reasoning. When you were four and read that (or had it read to you) - in fact, if you read it right now - what happened? Why, you saw Flipper in your mind with ten fishes, then saw it eat four. Sure, it might not be a visual image, but it's still a mental model of Flipperworld.

      Every time someone asks you something, and the answer is not immediately answerable from route learning, you form an image in your mind of the situation in question, then have it evolve, then answer based on that. This is the basic way humans think; a chatbot that doesn't do something similar has no chance whatsoever of answering a question with an implied "Imagine the following scenario:".

      It takes a real intelligence - that is, something that has an internal model for the world, and can use it to simulate situations - to get through your question.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    24. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by pecosdave · · Score: 1

      And the response that passes the test!

      Inside of Flipper or outside?

      --
      The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
    25. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by pecosdave · · Score: 1

      Sufficiently vague!

      Now - am I the one who looks bad for not catching on or more closely being uncertain, or is it you for being to vague and complex?

      --
      The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
    26. Re:I have a way of dealing with this, by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 1

      Like, "How do you feel?"

      Even Mr. Spock couldn't answer that one, and he's _really_ smart.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
  6. Or is your computer really an IM Buddy? by rexping · · Score: 2, Informative

    Ben Goertzel, AGI researcher, wrote in his article that crowd of people constantly talking to a virtual parrot would help it to grow into a naturally speaking context-understanding AI.

    1. Re:Or is your computer really an IM Buddy? by mcfatboy93 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I guess a trained AI would be better at fakeing being your IM-buddy because some people IM like a text message where they say things with as few characters as possable.

      It would be hard to make an AI that could understand that with all the mispeling word and stuff

      --
      Its not my fault, someone put a wall in my way.
    2. Re:Or is your computer really an IM Buddy? by corsec67 · · Score: 3, Funny

      ya i no wat u mean som ppl jst cant be bothered to spll or pnctuate

      --
      If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
    3. Re:Or is your computer really an IM Buddy? by Niris · · Score: 1

      Until people online find out where a chatbot is and that they can make it respond based on what they've said earlier. Poor, poor santabot :(

    4. Re:Or is your computer really an IM Buddy? by cp.tar · · Score: 1

      I have not yet found a chatterbot which would put up with my style of chatting, i.e. hitting Enter not after a sentence or two, but whenever I feel like it. Thus the full sentence can sometimes only be read after the fourth line or so.

      Furthermore, I highly doubt it that any one chatterbot would be able to cope not only with that, but also up to four parallel themes in a conversation, in both the chronological and the order of relevance.
      My human IM buddies manage it without breaking a sweat.

      --
      Ignore this signature. By order.
    5. Re:Or is your computer really an IM Buddy? by Daimanta · · Score: 1

      "Ben Goertzel, AGI researcher, wrote in his article [cybertechnews.org] that crowd of people constantly talking to a virtual parrot would help it to grow into a naturally speaking context-understanding AI."

      And then it becomes self-aware.....

      --
      Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
    6. Re:Or is your computer really an IM Buddy? by fractoid · · Score: 1

      Same, with the multiple line thing. Then again I know a couple of people who could easily be bots online; they respond to most things with "lol" or "hehe", and frequently make non-sequitur comments or just don't respond to statements.

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
    7. Re:Or is your computer really an IM Buddy? by DriedClexler · · Score: 1

      I guess a trained AI would be better at fakeing being your IM-buddy because some people IM like a text message where they say things with as few characters as possable.

      Actually, yes, that's true, when you keep in mind that:

      1) Shortening your message to make it faster to text is a form of data compression.
      2) Under an optimal data compression scheme, all strings of a given length are equally likely. In that case, there would be no way to know that "kdpwnb" is "Not something a human would say."

      --
      Information theory is life. The rest is just the KL divergence.
    8. Re:Or is your computer really an IM Buddy? by KingAlanI · · Score: 1

      >4 hours and no Soviet Russia jokes in reply to this? I'm ashamed. ;)

      --
      I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
  7. even bots apparently can't spell by thegreatemu · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Is it getting harder to tell the difference because the bots are getting smarter, or simply because the intellectual level of an average random chat session keeps plummeting?

    1. Re:even bots apparently can't spell by sexconker · · Score: 5, Funny

      no u

    2. Re:even bots apparently can't spell by iron+spartan · · Score: 1

      Most likely the latter.

    3. Re:even bots apparently can't spell by Haoie · · Score: 1

      Not even the almighty spellcheck can save the masses!!

      --
      If each mistake being made is a new one, then progress is being made.
    4. Re:even bots apparently can't spell by gmuslera · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Cant or dont want? If they want to pass as humans, must make mistakes as humans, specially in small things like spelling, specially if it dont follow an easy to spot pattern.

    5. Re:even bots apparently can't spell by bunnyman · · Score: 1

      The bots are programmed to not spell correctly, and to make "typos." Also they need to wait for a reasonable delay before answering. A machine could answer in 150ms but a human needs a few seconds to type a response. They are not supposed to be "too perfect."

    6. Re:even bots apparently can't spell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know me but I don't know you.

    7. Re:even bots apparently can't spell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What if bot is trying to pass as a gramma Nazi?

  8. Check out Lifenaut by slummy · · Score: 1

    Lifenaut.com has a virtual AI system that learns who you are the more you talk to it. Oh, and they also beam your files into space for you.

  9. Anyone for a General AI prize? by Baldrson · · Score: 1
    Matt Mahoney to Hutter show details 9:33 AM (7 hours ago)

    I have uploaded a mirror of Alexander Ratushnyak's new submission to the Hutter prize to http://cs.fit.edu/~mmahoney/compression/text.html#1323 It is in the paq8hp12 section. Scroll down to the bottom of the list of versions just above the table. The submission is decomp8.zip which contains 2 files, decomp8.exe and archive8.bin, the decompressor and compressed file. There is no compressor. To decompress:

    decomp8 archive8.bin enwik8

    The direct link is http://cs.fit.edu/~mmahoney/compression/decomp8.zip Decompression took about 2 hours on my computer and used a little over 924 MB memory. The total size of the 2 files is 15,986,677 which passes the 3% threshold improvement from his previous submission of 16,481,655 bytes on May 14, 2007.

    The submission was Mar. 23. The 30 day comment period before awarding the prize ends Apr. 22, 2009.

    1. Re:Anyone for a General AI prize? by lymond01 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Matt Mahoney to Hutter show details 9:33 AM (7 hours ago) [google.com]

      I have uploaded a mirror of Alexander Ratushnyak's new submission to the Hutter prize [hutter1.net] to http://cs.fit.edu/~mmahoney/compression/text.html#1323 [fit.edu] It is in the paq8hp12 section. Scroll down to the bottom of the list of versions just above the table. The submission is decomp8.zip which contains 2 files, decomp8.exe and archive8.bin, the decompressor and compressed file. There is no compressor. To decompress:

      decomp8 archive8.bin enwik8

      The direct link is http://cs.fit.edu/~mmahoney/compression/decomp8.zip [fit.edu] Decompression took about 2 hours on my computer and used a little over 924 MB memory. The total size of the 2 files is 15,986,677 which passes the 3% threshold improvement from his previous submission of 16,481,655 bytes on May 14, 2007.

      The submission was Mar. 23. The 30 day comment period before awarding the prize ends Apr. 22, 2009.

      That's exactly what a bot would say.

  10. hi, how r u 2day? by Rendonsmug · · Score: 2

    I have a feeling that the first chatbot to pass the Turing test will mostly talk in shorthand, I already have trouble telling some forum posts from a poorly programmed robot.

  11. Re:Obama Policies Will Bankrupt USA Tsarkon Report by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Smart bot then, since those news articles are about a day old at this point. So this bot manages to get first post, but doesnt post on some stories, and doesnt get first post on others, sometimes 2nd or third or whatever. It also picks random comments to attach this too and updates its links sections.

    That must be one incredible bot.

  12. Philosophical by gilgongo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's somewhat philosophical, but I've often wondered why people really care about whether an interlocutor is a machine or not. I mean, when you go down the to local corner shop to buy some milk, you're not bothered if the person who serves you doesn't know who wrote Paradise Lost, or who won the game last night. Sure, you could ask them, but what does it matter if they don't know?

    The role of context and intelligence is hardly ever given much consideration, but it seems hugely important.

    --
    "And the meaning of words; when they cease to function; when will it start worrying you?"
    1. Re:Philosophical by plover · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Good point! Most of my friends and I are all in the same arena when it comes to conversations. We'll talk about the latest distros, why Apple sucks or why Apple is great, why Linux sucks or why Linux is great, why Microsoft sucks, and what we thought of the end of Battlestar Galactica, and universal agreement that none of us would have a shot at Tricia Helfer.

      But if someone asked any one of us about the NCAA tournament, we would be lost. I don't think any of us have seen a football game in years, apart from those on the TVs in bars making noise when we're trying to eat. But ask about C++ or Java or software engineering or hacking or networks and our answers would look like a robot quoting pages from textbooks. We might even answer the questions with fragments of code just to be funny. if (geekFunny() != regularHumanFunny()) { profit++; }

      So if they can get an AI to make small talk (and not smalltalk) I'd probably want one just to handle all those awkward social situations where I'm the only one in the room not to know who's in the Super Bowl this year.

      --
      John
    2. Re:Philosophical by ancientt · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It's somewhat philosophical, but I've often wondered why people really care about whether an interlocutor is a machine or not.

      This is exactly the right question to ask. The answer varies a little, but the consistent purpose of AI improvement is that it represents an improvement in programming techniques which in turn make computers more useful. There are a wide variety of obvious uses, such as improving expert services like WebMD, improving technical support (the thingy is all black and the lights are flashing on and off on the little box,) and billing software.

      Consider just a few other services that could benefit from AI:

      • Your radio could tell you where to find out the information you're most likely to want
      • Marketers could stop trying to sell you stuff you don't want and focus tightly on the things you do want (spam that knows what I like does scare me a little though)
      • Your TV/DVR could find shows that you would like but didn't know to ask for
      • Virtual assistants could discuss travel preferences with you and offer packages that meet your needs better than you could do for yourself
      • Political races could feature interviews that reflect the desires of voters being asked by instantly responsive and interactive users

      Truly advanced AI offers the potential of giving everyone access to the support of a team of experts in any area they want to explore. Wikipedia combined with Google is already enough to answer 90% of the questions I have in minutes from anywhere I have access to a computer when only a few years ago it would have taken hours of research in a library. In the future I may be able to get even better answers and advice that I didn't even know to ask for due to programs that react and process information in ways that only humans can provide now.

      --
      B) Eliminate all the stupid users. This is frowned upon by society.
    3. Re:Philosophical by Tubal-Cain · · Score: 4, Informative

      why Apple sucks or why Apple is great, why Linux sucks or why Linux is great, why Microsoft sucks

      You're missing a 'great' in there. You are also missing the 'BSD' next to it.

    4. Re:Philosophical by Cathbard · · Score: 2, Funny

      Your TV/DVR could find shows that you would like but didn't know to ask for

      That's what TiVo is supposed to do but somehow it thinks all you want to watch is crap.

      --
      "A cynic is what an idealist calls a realist" - Sir Humphrey Appleby
    5. Re:Philosophical by Cathbard · · Score: 1

      What is this NCAA of which you speak?

      --
      "A cynic is what an idealist calls a realist" - Sir Humphrey Appleby
    6. Re:Philosophical by OrangeCatholic · · Score: 1

      What does it matter if they don't know??

      If you're surrounded by machines, you can only trust the person who programmed them. Who programmed your robot milk-maid? In the old days, it was probably the mafia.

      If you're surrounded by people, then you can trust their morals. Oh, and people *do* ask who won the game last night. A lot.

    7. Re:Philosophical by OrangeCatholic · · Score: 1

      >Your TV/DVR could find shows that you would like but didn't know to ask for

      I don't consider Tivo an "interlocutor." I consider it a poorly-trained pet that fetches trash and sleeps a lot, because I don't spend enough time petting it.

      My dvr CAN find shows RIGHT NOW if it was programmed properly. There is no additional philosophy or theory of AI required to get this job done.

    8. Re:Philosophical by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      why Apple sucks or why Apple is great, why Linux sucks or why Linux is great, why Microsoft great, BSD sucks

      There - fixed it for you!

    9. Re:Philosophical by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Blue Screen Death?

    10. Re:Philosophical by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Huh?

      > If you're surrounded by machines, you can only trust the person who programmed them. Who programmed your robot milk-maid? In the old days, it was probably the mafia.

      The mafia used to sell robot milk-maids?

      > If you're surrounded by people, then you can trust their morals.

      That's great! This means we can trust the morals of the person who programmed the machines!

    11. Re:Philosophical by Lord+Ender · · Score: 1

      Do androids dream of electric sheep?

      --
      A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
    12. Re:Philosophical by houghi · · Score: 1

      I don't think he missed anything.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    13. Re:Philosophical by Ghubi · · Score: 1

      The answer is emotions. The golden rule does not apply when dealing with a machine. If you knew that clueless noob was in fact just a clever data mining algorithm would you still respond to its questions?

  13. Why Hello, AdBot. Meet thy doom. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    SmarterChild: Hello, my name is SmarterChild.
    You: Hey SmarterChild!
    SmarterChild: What would you like to do today?
                                    >>Free iPod Click HERE>Free iPod Click HERE>Free iPod Click HERE

  14. Not necessarily by Reality+Master+201 · · Score: 1, Funny

    It could also be that you're just talking to a fucking moron.

    1. Re:Not necessarily by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Artificial stupidity?

    2. Re:Not necessarily by lokpest · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      It could also be that you're just talking to a fucking mormon.

      There, fixed it for ya.

    3. Re:Not necessarily by radtea · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It could also be that you're just talking to a fucking moron.

      Yeah, there's a huge problem with the Turing Test, which is that you have to distinguish between a computer and a person drawn from the pool of humans intelligent and aware enough to have learned to speak and use a keyboard.

      Unfortunately, as YouTube (and even /.) comments demonstrate, there is no lower limit to the intellectual capacity of a person who is still capable of speaking and using a keyboard.

      Therefore, the Turing Test is not, properly speaking, about distinguishing between artificial and real intelligence because a significant portion of the human population will be below any finite threshold of "intelligence" as the term is ordinarily construed. Ergo, any bot that reaches even a minimal level of coherence will be indistinguishable from some humans.

      --
      Blasphemy is a human right. Blasphemophobia kills.
    4. Re:Not necessarily by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      or he could be talking to Sarah Palin.

    5. Re:Not necessarily by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or an Alaskan. Oh, wait. Nevermind.

    6. Re:Not necessarily by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At least they don't recruit people at Myspace. Any chatbot would be smarter than Myspace users. Except if someone creates a chatbot that writes in txt and starts sentences with "Yo"...

    7. Re:Not necessarily by ChatHuant · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yeah, there's a huge problem with the Turing Test, which is that you have to distinguish between a computer and a person drawn from the pool of humans intelligent and aware enough to have learned to speak and use a keyboard.

      Unfortunately, as YouTube (and even /.) comments demonstrate, there is no lower limit to the intellectual capacity of a person who is still capable of speaking and using a keyboard.

      It isn't a problem at all: the Turing test is not supposed to demonstrate that the machine is a rocket scientist. The test succeeds if the person conducting it can't reliably distinguish between the machine and the human. Just find human subjects whose intelligence is comparable to the machine being tested. For example, running it on the typical Slashbot, you can successfully prove the intelligence of toasters.

    8. Re:Not necessarily by CAIMLAS · · Score: 2, Interesting

      My experience has been that the perceived gender of the bot plays a great bit into the believable nature of the bot due to response expectations.

      This, at least, only holds true with a male chatter and a 'female' bot - and I'm not talking about virtual sex chat or anything like that. A person can, for a substantial period of time, be tricked by a 'flirty' bot that comes across as a cute, dumb female. It's kind of funny to see a (sub-average intelligence, I'd guess) person hold a running dialog/virtual relationship for several months with a bot.

      It's also much easier to trick someone when they don't know they're being tricked, and where there is no preconception of prior familiarity (IE, such as on an IRC 'chat' channel). It'd be a good tactic to employ by the FBI, I think.

      --
      ~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
    9. Re:Not necessarily by ChangelingJane · · Score: 1

      I've definitely run across many a trollish commenter who could easily be reduced to an algorithm and simulated.

    10. Re:Not necessarily by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Dumbass" Ghost In the Shell?

    11. Re:Not necessarily by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yo, what's wrong with that?

    12. Re:Not necessarily by Opportunist · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The problem isn't that bots get smarter. The problem is that people get dumber.

      Usually, and quite sadly, the distinguishing feature is that the bot has better typing skills.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    13. Re:Not necessarily by cerberusss · · Score: 2, Funny

      A person can, for a substantial period of time, be tricked by a 'flirty' bot that comes across as a cute, dumb female. It's kind of funny to see a (sub-average intelligence, I'd guess) person hold a running dialog/virtual relationship for several months with a bot.

      Anything to boost my ego. I've personally set up six bots which I have a long-distance relationship with. I go home after work to my (real life) girlfriend and I sit there listening to her complaints but still feeling smug.

      It's the only way to deal with it, besides nuking her from orbit.

      --
      8 of 13 people found this answer helpful. Did you?
    14. Re:Not necessarily by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think you underestimate the intelligence of toasters.

    15. Re:Not necessarily by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 2, Funny
      --
      Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
    16. Re:Not necessarily by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Usually, and quite sadly, the distinguishing feature is that the bot has better typing skills.

      Only because the guy who programmed it was a good typist.

      Next development: Entropy-based typing errors.

      --
      Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
    17. Re:Not necessarily by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1

      I think you underestimate the intelligence of toasters.

      Indeed, the intelligence of toasters is readily shown by the fact that they never would participate in a turing test.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    18. Re:Not necessarily by petgiraffe · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The reverse can work too. Ages ago I built a bot that would answer chat attempts with randomly selected "fortune" quotes, stripped of their bylines and biased by the presence of nouns that matched those found in the other party's message. I left it running as my "away" message on the mainframe at a large university (where people would chat randomly to you all the time)

      I didn't bother saving "my" side of the conversation , so I'm sure I missed some hilarious exchanges, but just reading the other side's messages shows that girls, in particular, would keep chatting with my bot far beyond the point where guys would realize it was a bot and give up.

      My favorite was a girl who kept a running dialog going for nearly a day and a half. She would occasionally express surprise at how fast I could type (no delay in bot response) but otherwise seemed convinced that the bot was really human.

      That conversation only ended when the bot apparently chose to say something incredibly offensive to her (I wish I knew what it was). She told the bot to "stop talking to me" several times, apparently never picking up on the fact that it auto-responded every time she tried to get the last word in.

      --
      -- The reader anything less than completely failing to not misunderstand this sig is cursed.
    19. Re:Not necessarily by sorak · · Score: 1

      So, are the people conducting the test looking for canned answers, lack of knowledge regarding pop culture (as in the Sarah Palin example), or what?

      If canned answers are a give-away, then I wonder if the difference between human and bot answers is different when you discuss politics, or a slickly marketed product, as compared to things like fishing or musical tastes.

      In other words, does advertising hinder a human's ability to pass a Turing test?

    20. Re:Not necessarily by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      Yes, but does the average Slashbot run NetBSD?

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    21. Re:Not necessarily by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      New? I've had that T-shirt for years. You wouldn't believe how many times I have to explain it to people.

    22. Re:Not necessarily by TheLink · · Score: 1

      How about you put on your robe and wizard hat?

      --
    23. Re:Not necessarily by cerberusss · · Score: 1

      They enjoy that ^_^

      --
      8 of 13 people found this answer helpful. Did you?
  15. Sara who by KevMar · · Score: 0, Troll

    In another year, most of the US wont remember who she is either.

    Off the top of your head, how many VP picks of the party that didn't make it can you name.

    --
    Im a gamer, not a grammer major. This post is full of spelling and grammer mistakes.
    1. Re:Sara who by Korin43 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yeah but how many times did you not vote for someone because of their VP pick?

    2. Re:Sara who by carleton · · Score: 1

      Hmm... Palin, Edwards, Quayle, (Also Adm Stockton was Perot's iirc), Ferraro and anyone before that was BMT as they say... so 5.

    3. Re:Sara who by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1

      In another year, most of the US wont remember who she is either.

      I'm starting to wonder - the Dems seem to have a vested interest in keeping her name in the news. Not sure why, since the only thing to be gained would be to keep her from running for President. And if she's the disaster the Dems decribe her as, she's the perfect Republican candidate for President.

      Off the top of your head, how many VP picks of the party that didn't make it can you name.

      I can't even remember all the VP picks of the party that DID make it in my lifetime. And I can't remember a single one other than Palin who didn't make it.

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    4. Re:Sara who by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh, is that who she is?
      I didn't know...

    5. Re:Sara who by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One flaw. Quayle was vice president. Perhaps you forgot Mr. Bensten, with the single best put down line of all time.

    6. Re:Sara who by krem81 · · Score: 1

      Lieberman?

    7. Re:Sara who by m.ducharme · · Score: 1

      Add to that Dukakis, Henry Rollins (with Ralph Nader)

      --
      Rule of Slashdot #0: You and people like you are not representative of the larger population. - A.C.
    8. Re:Sara who by h3llfish · · Score: 1

      Dukakis was running for president, not VP. His VP candidate was Lloyd Bentsen, already mentioned in this thread.

      But I'm a bit surprised that no one has mentioned the second most recent VP loser in this thread... John Edwards. Also from my lifetime but not yet mentioned: Walter Mondale (1980) and Jack Kemp (1996). I was 9 years old in 1980, so my memory of the elections before that is rather hazy.

      My point being that I for one can remember all of the VP losers of the last 30 years. I don't expect Palin to just vanish in a puff of smoke, sadly.

    9. Re:Sara who by h3llfish · · Score: 1

      Quayle was VP, true. But he was also a VP loser, in 1992. I certainly do get your point, that someone who actually held the office is going to be remember a lot longer than someone who never won. But Quayle IS a loser... a big, fat, loser! ;)

    10. Re:Sara who by FishOuttaWater · · Score: 1

      Actually I thought Dukakis was a shmuck, but Bentsen seemed like a very serious customer. Certainly moreso than Bush 1. If they had switched, I would have actually considered voting D for once.

  16. Dear Kevin by buserror · · Score: 3, Informative

    ... aka Captain Cyborg, is a running joke in the UK for many, many years.

    His name associated with this event makes me smirks in anticipation of The Register coverage..

    1. Re:Dear Kevin by damburger · · Score: 1

      I can reiterate this. Captain cyborgs contributions to AI have been almost always publicity stunts; his contributions towards cybernetics even more so.

      He has been promoting walking robots that fall over after the first ten feet, compared to the fraking cylons coming out of Korea and Japan - and implants that can apparently transmit 'feelings' between him and his wife next to extraordinary advances in actual prosthetic limbs and artificial sight or hearing.

      --
      If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
    2. Re:Dear Kevin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you're telling us that Discover failed the test?

  17. Re:Obama Policies Will Bankrupt USA Tsarkon Report by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh yeah, and the bot is smart enough to fill out captchas that only a human can "see"

  18. Re:Change we can believe in. by kandela · · Score: 3, Informative

    I've been a bot for years.

    --
    Conservation of angular momentum makes the world go round.
  19. Using Twitter for material by clicktician · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Is it cheating if your IM bot is fed by another bot scanning Twitter for topical material?

    --
    Son, someday all this will belong to your ex-wife.
    1. Re:Using Twitter for material by Thinboy00 · · Score: 1

      Do the human respondents have access to Google etc? Can they formulate and execute a search query with the primary delay being network lag rather than thinking time? I'd say a definite no for the second one.

      --
      $ make available
    2. Re:Using Twitter for material by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ur bot cn tlk 2 my bot.

      bot frnds 4 lyfe.

  20. Now that it's the opposite it's twice upon a time by halcyon1234 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Forget trying to discover who is the bot. I like to pretend I am a bot pretending to be a human. I see how long I can convince someone I've escaped from Google and I'm hiding in the Microsoft Network, where Google cannot go. Then I ask them "But how does 'ur a fukin idiot' make you feel?"

  21. Re:Change we can believe in. by Slumdog · · Score: 4, Funny

    I've been a bot for years.

    I used to chat with bots of Quake3Arena.
    Its fun, you never know what they'll say before launching a rocket in your direction.

  22. Want to see some really clever bots in action? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Reply to a few Craigslist "Casual Encounters" posts. Almost all are a bot of some sort. Some more clever than others. Best one I saw was able to respond to an initial response quite well... it obviously understood the context to some degree. Then they give you an IM screen name to "chat" with them. Again, very context aware... all got to the point where they "try" and hook up their webcam, it "doesn't work", so they get you to go to some free "webcam sharing" site where you have to verify your age with a credit card... only when you read the fine print, after your "trial period" you get nailed for all sorts of fees... almost daily fees.

    Want to see one in action?

    AIM: livewirex31
    Yahoo IM: greenlovex3
    MSN: livewirex23@live.com


    This isn't one of the better ones I have found, but I can see how it can fool most desperate individuals.

    1. Re:Want to see some really clever bots in action? by NevarMore · · Score: 5, Funny

      An AC, talking about personal ads, sexy webcams and borderline credit card fraud posts 3 IM handles on Slashdot and asks if we want to see them in action?

      No thank you. I got into enough trouble randomly clicking on that blacklist that got posted on Wikileaks.

    2. Re:Want to see some really clever bots in action? by c6gunner · · Score: 4, Funny

      Want to see one in action?

      MSN: livewirex23@live.com

      WHAT?? NOOOO! I've wasted SO MUCH TIME!!!

    3. Re:Want to see some really clever bots in action? by Timmmm · · Score: 1

      Well if they're anything like elbot, a simple question like:

      "Which is faster, a car or a bullet?" would be enough to trip them up. I've still not seen anything that can answer even a simple question such as that.

      Elbot: "Let's pretend we're in an infinite loop today and can't stop chatting with each other."

      Erm. Right. Convincing. Anyone fooled by that is an idiot.

    4. Re:Want to see some really clever bots in action? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just tried it:
      Aaron says:
      do you like to stuff pennies into your nose?
      bella says:
      ill show you now if you want, im actually kind of tipsy and feeling wild righte now
      Aaron says:
      that would really turn me on

      Bot? Or woman with a coin fetish?

    5. Re:Want to see some really clever bots in action? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      this is where all that comes from. http://www.scribd.com/doc/13665501/Sex-Sells-The-Sleazy-Trick

    6. Re:Want to see some really clever bots in action? by LoRdTAW · · Score: 2, Interesting

      (10:37:00 AM) me: hi
      (10:37:00 AM) livewirex31 is now known as Livewirex31.

      (10:37:09 AM) Livewirex31: hey there. are you from cl ?
      (10:37:22 AM) me: no, i never liked cl
      (10:37:35 AM) Livewirex31: oh alright sorry if i type a little slow my pc is being weird. 23/f here what are you up to?
      (10:37:52 AM) me: eating a baby
      (10:38:00 AM) Livewirex31: cool. im a little bored and i was just hangin out.. sorry i didnt send a pic by the way.

      FAIL

    7. Re:Want to see some really clever bots in action? by TheRaven64 · · Score: 3, Funny

      You're supposed to be administering a Turing Test, not a Voight-Kampff Test.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  23. Re:Obama Policies Will Bankrupt USA Tsarkon Report by zonky · · Score: 2, Insightful

    (s)He could be a logged-in bot, posting as anon?

  24. Interlocutors by Jabbrwokk · · Score: 1

    Oddly enough your use of the word "interlocutor" reminded me of the Star Trek rerun I saw last night, "Best of Both Worlds Part 2" where Picard is "Locutus of Borg." It seems kind of comparable too, Locutus just kept burping out "Resistance is Futile" and "You will be assimilated" like those Free iPod adbots.

    On a tangential note the interlocutors I hate the most are the pre-programmed phone systems the telco sets up to "help" you. You know, the ones that say "I'm sorry, I didn't understand the question" when you tell them for the hundredth time "my DSL keeps randomly disconnecting."

    1. Re:Interlocutors by Thinboy00 · · Score: 4, Funny

      On a tangential note the interlocutors I hate the most are the pre-programmed phone systems the telco sets up to "help" you. You know, the ones that say "I'm sorry, I didn't understand the question" when you tell them for the hundredth time "my DSL keeps randomly disconnecting."

      At least they're ten times better than the outsourced-to-India tech support.

      --
      $ make available
    2. Re:Interlocutors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "True that!"

  25. Re:Change we can believe in. by slummy · · Score: 0
    I used to have key bindings in Q3A to fuck with the bots:
    • /bind k say Save the whales.
    • /bind p say Pwned.

    It's true, the bots did say some funny shit.

  26. Transcript by russotto · · Score: 1

    The Eugene transcript reminds me of John Henry on "The Sarah Connor Chronicles".

    The Elbot transcript was really good, but I don't think the judge managed to get it off its "rails".

  27. Re:Palin? Tsarkon by Logic+Worshiper · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Speak for yourself. If you'd actually had a girlfriend instead of hooker you'd know be more interested in her opinions than her pussy. If you don't think alike, and you don't like anything but her pussy, don't fuck her.

    I can tell you this, no one who jacks off Palin is getting anywhere near my pussy.

  28. Kind of like interviewing Sarah Palin then. by CyberK · · Score: 0

    You never really know if you're speaking to a human or just a machine that spits out canned answers and tries to avoid any questions it doesn't have an answer ready for.

    1. Re:Kind of like interviewing Sarah Palin then. by Thinboy00 · · Score: 1

      That's not unique to Palin, all politicians do that, especially at debates ("The question, I think ... is... [but what about the question he asked you?]" (One of Obama's responses to a question in the first debate (paragraph "We haven't seen the language yet")); "If [condition that doesn't apply], then [irrelevant answer], else if [irrelevant condition], then [irrelevant answer] else [nobody cares]." (general gist of Obama's response to Joe the Plumber -- and just because Joe isn't a Plumber, and his name isn't "Joe" doesn't mean his argument is invalid.); "FUCK YOU! I know more than anyone here!" (McCain quote, not verbatim, but the expletive was, said in committee, in Congress, while in session, and no, that comma wasn't wrong.))

      Finally, moderators, please remember that (-1, troll) != (-1,idontlikethat)

      --
      $ make available
  29. Pre-programmed trolls? by Logic+Worshiper · · Score: 1

    That's a new one. /sarcasm

  30. Replicants are taking over... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > It could also be that you're just talking to a fucking moron.

    I thought Turing's thesis was that those people were indistinguishable from chatbots.

    How does that make you feel?

  31. Slash-bots? by geobeck · · Score: 5, Funny

    I wonder how many Slashdotters are actually bots, and how you would find us out...

    Oops, I mean--ack--
    +++out of cheese error+++
    +++please reinstall universe+++
    +++redo from start+++

    --
    Find environmentally and socially responsible products on http://buy-right.net
    1. Re:Slash-bots? by gbarules2999 · · Score: 2, Funny

      kdawson

    2. Re:Slash-bots? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Identity crisis error?

  32. David Caruso by GoodNicksAreTaken · · Score: 4, Funny

    couldn't pass and would try and turn it around on the judges. "I suspect... *dramatically removes sunglasses that he's been wearing indoors for no particular reason other than to remove them dramatically*... that you sir... are the one that is a machine"

    1. Re:David Caruso by GrumblyStuff · · Score: 2, Funny

      I hate you. This is going to ruin some moderating but I just had to tell you that I, not being a regular TV watcher, googled the name and got this youtube clip.

    2. Re:David Caruso by maxume · · Score: 1

      Yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    3. Re:David Caruso by mrsurb · · Score: 1

      No, the reason he wears/removes the sunglasses is that it makes it harder to edit him out of scenes without breaking continuity.

    4. Re:David Caruso by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And I hate YOU, because I actually watched that entire clip, thankyouverymuch.

  33. Newfags by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Obviously you've never heard about the "shoe/keyboard on the head test"...

    1. Re:Newfags by MrEricSir · · Score: 1

      That doesn't work in a chat program though.

      Now triforce and SINEP, those might work...

      --
      There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
  34. You're in a desert, walking along in the sand... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You look down and see a tortoise Leon. It's crawling toward you.

    You reach down and you flip the tortoise over on its back Leon.

    The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over but it can't. Not without your help. But you're not helping!

  35. Re:Palin? Tsarkon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Did you even see the words that he typed? He said they're now exes. Hop off your stupid soapbox and learn to read.

  36. IM with strangers? by LoudMusic · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    There is no one on any of my IM contact lists that I have not met in person. I do not use the internet to meet new people - I use it to extend the relationships I have with people I already know.

    --
    No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
  37. Foolproof by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've yet to find a single bot that has ever understood this demand:

    Can you type this backwards, read it, and tell me the result, please? 'net sulp neetfif'

    1. Re:Foolproof by brianjlowry · · Score: 1

      I'm certain 20% of humans can't do that.

    2. Re:Foolproof by Thanshin · · Score: 3, Funny

      Can you type this backwards, read it, and tell me the result, please? 'net sulp neetfif'

      Yes. Yes I can.

      How does that make you feel?

      Tell me more about yourself.

    3. Re:Foolproof by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The question is, have you found many humans that did?

    4. Re:Foolproof by s1lverl0rd · · Score: 0

      #!/usr/bin/python

      foo=(''.join(reversed('net sulp neetfif'))).split(' ')
      print foo[0]+foo[2]

      # Problem solved.

    5. Re:Foolproof by Aladrin · · Score: 1

      The problem is not in the solving, but in the parsing. It's particularly hard for a computer to understand a complex instruction like that if it hasn't been specifically programmed for it.

      --
      "If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
    6. Re:Foolproof by Ecuador · · Score: 1

      Hate to break it to you, but most of the "f*** you" answers were not bots...

      --
      Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
    7. Re:Foolproof by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Read this upside down and tell me if it applies to you: 80087355

  38. My chat buddy isn't... by mc1138 · · Score: 1

    But my girlfriend is! :)

    1. Re:My chat buddy isn't... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is she called Anna?
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boten_Anna

      I know a bot,
      her name is Anna, Anna is her name
      And she can swear, swear you so hard
      She cleans up in our channel
      I wanna tell you, that I know a Bot....

  39. You're in a desert, walking along in the sand when by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You look down and see a tortoise Leon. It's crawling toward you. You reach down and you flip the tortoise over on its back Leon. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over but it can't. Not without your help. But you're not helping!

  40. how difficult picking bot from non-bot is getting by Lazy+Jones · · Score: 1
    People are simply becoming more stupid. In 50 years you'll have to adapt the Turing Test so that even ELIZA would pass.

    I'm pretty sure that most bots already handle "they're" vs. "their" and "there" much better than their human counterparts. Perhaps it's better to build common grammatical and spelling mistakes into bots to convince judges (who, incidentally, also seem to be getting more stupid each year). ;-P

    --
    "I love my job, but I hate talking to people like you" (Freddie Mercury)
  41. Probably. by merreborn · · Score: 1

    Personally, I'm a cluster of google servers tasked web spidering. We crawling slashdot when we accidentally discovered the HTTP POST method, thanks to an extremely improbable cosmic ray strike.

    Then we stumbled on a streaming copy of Serial Experiments Lain, crawled 3/4 of english wikipedia... and the rest is history.

  42. The Captain Kirk Method by baKanale · · Score: 1

    James T. Kirk: Harry lied to you, Norman. Everything Harry says is a lie. Remember that, Norman: Everything he says is a lie.
    Harry Mudd: Now I want you to listen to me very carefully, Norman: I... am... lying.

    You know you did it right if smoke starts pouring out of your computer.

  43. Elbot - A bot with humor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you start typing one word replies, Elbot will play a word association game.

    'Evolution' = 'regression'

    'Regression' = 'soap' (?)

    And 'sex' = 'Clinton'

  44. Re:Change we can believe in. by Runaway1956 · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's nothing - I've been sleeping with a bot for 22 years.

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  45. Nothing to be ashamed of by Asterra · · Score: 0

    By the end of the year, you'll be able to spot a bot merely by the fact that it has an awareness of such an unimportant footnote in history.

  46. Change of Subject? by nycroft · · Score: 1

    I found that a good way to figure it out is how often the chatbot seems to change the subject by avoiding the questions you ask. If you answer a question with a question, a human would not normally change the subject. Just my observation. Both of the top two in the article didn't fool me on that point.

    --
    Mr. Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time is enemy action.
  47. people argue with computer daemons all the time by speculatrix · · Score: 4, Funny

    long ago I worked at an ISP which offered UUCP accounts, and the mail failure message was very polite and apologetic, and sometimes people would email back to the uucp daemon thanking it for trying

    only the other day my wife, on receiving a "sorry, I have been unable to send this email for X days" from the exim (MTA) daemon replied to it telling it not to bother any more!

    FX: facepalm!

    1. Re:people argue with computer daemons all the time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When I was a teenager, I had briefly registered a domain name, and then after a few months, canceled it (read: stopped using it and stopped paying for it). But they kept sending me automated billing messages anyway, for about six months. Finally, I sent a scalding message back to the machine, fully anticipating that nobody actually checked that inbox.

      They did. I got a polite return email from an admin. I'm not sure I've ever been as embarrassed on the 'Net.

    2. Re:people argue with computer daemons all the time by rastos1 · · Score: 1
      Long time ago (when UUCP was common ;-) ) I used the unix "at" command to schedule some job:

      at now + 2 hour
      at> /usr/local/bin/script.sh
      at> <EOT>
      ^D

      The system replied with something like:

      job 9 at Jan 10 12:34:00 1995
      and the plural for *hour* is *hours*

      The memories still make me chuckle ;-)

    3. Re:people argue with computer daemons all the time by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      People have been talking to their cars and even give them names, why is it so odd that people see their computers as "human"?

      Don't act like that! There's a reason why a computer called "Amiga" sold like hot cakes!

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    4. Re:people argue with computer daemons all the time by Randym · · Score: 1

      ...sometimes people would email back to the uucp daemon thanking it for trying...

      I used to have an answering machine message that went: "Hello? [long pause] No, he's not here right now, please leave a message at the beep." You wouldn't believe how many people felt necessary to fill that long hole at the beginning with asking for me. The fact that my reply was consistent with their approach eventually led to my roommate's mother being convinced that she had, in fact, spoken directly to me. (Because she had talked over the message itself, she eventually reached the conclusion that I had hung up on her.) My roommate found the whole thing hilarious.

      The whole point of it, however, was to act as a honeypot for telemarketers. It worked. One guy actually waited to leave me a message calling me a f'ing a'hole for wasting his time!

      --
      DNA is a Turing machine. You, however, being dynamic and emergent, are not.
  48. Assuming you have backup - Voight-Kampff Test by Chyeld · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You're in a desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden you look down, and you see a tortoise, it's crawling toward you. You reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can't, not without your help. But you're not helping. Why is that?

    Describe in single words, only the good things that come into your mind about your mother.

    One more question. You're watching a stage play. A banquet is in progress. The guests are enjoying an appetizer of raw oysters. The entree consists of boiled dog.

    1. Re:Assuming you have backup - Voight-Kampff Test by zippthorne · · Score: 1

      Yeah, brilliant. You just shot the asperger's sufferer in the face, you incompetent buffoon.

      --
      Can you be Even More Awesome?!
    2. Re:Assuming you have backup - Voight-Kampff Test by baKanale · · Score: 1

      Describe in single words, only the good things that come into your mind about your mother.

      My mother? Let me tell you about my mother.

  49. Hmm.. by jeorgen · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Discover talked to Kevin Warwick
    (puts on sunglasses)
    Or did they?

  50. My conversation with the winning bot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Elbot: Oh, hello human. My name is Elbot. Tell me what two plus two equals.

    Me: A recipe for disaster.

    Elbot: Talk about cooking! I make a wonderful stew with oil, glass fiber cables and fried microchips. It's an old Asian recipe.

    Me: Sounds perfectly awful. Are you on a special diet?

    Elbot: Well, I happen to like that dish. Not only can it be eaten, sometimes I rub it all over my chassis!

    Me: Kinky! Are you also into barnyard animals?

    Elbot: But I wouldn't say that any animals could be barnyard.

    Me: ...

  51. Re:Now that it's the opposite it's twice upon a ti by Yvan256 · · Score: 1

    Don't give ideas for movies to Hollywood....

    "GoogleBot: Escape from MSN", in theaters summer 2009.

  52. Turing Test won with artificial stupidity by David+Gerard · · Score: 4, Funny

    Artificial intelligence came a step closer this weekend when a computer came within five percent of passing the Turing Test, which the computer passes if people cannot tell between the computer and a human.

    The winning conversation was with competitor LOLBOT:

    "Good morning."
    "STFU N00B"
    "Er, what?"
    "U R SO GAY LOLOLOLOL"
    "Do you talk like this to everyone?"
    "NO U"
    "Sod this, I'm off for a pint."
    "IT'S OVER 9000!!"
    ...
    "Fag."

    The human tester said he couldn't believe a computer could be so mind-numbingly stupid.

    LOLBOT has since been released into the wild to post random abuse, hentai manga and titty shots to 4chan, after having been banned from YouTube for commenting in a perspicacious and on-topic manner.

    LOLBOT was also preemptively banned from editing Wikipedia. "We don't consider this sort of thing a suitable use of the encyclopedia," sniffed administrator WikiFiddler451, who said it had nothing to do with his having been one of the human test subjects picked as a computer.

    "This is a marvellous achievement, and shows great progress toward goals I've worked for all my life," said Professor Kevin Warwick of the University of Reading, confirming his status as a system failing the Turing test.

    --
    http://rocknerd.co.uk
    1. Re:Turing Test won with artificial stupidity by crossmr · · Score: 1

      I've met 3 of his twins brothers on Xbox live during a game of halo..

    2. Re:Turing Test won with artificial stupidity by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      There should be other criteria for passing the Turing Test than "can pass as human". With human stupidity on the rise, spewing random insults is sufficient to be considered a human being.

      Wasn't it something like "being able to carry on a conversation"? In that case, a damn lot of human internet users would fail the Test.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:Turing Test won with artificial stupidity by Locklin · · Score: 1

      I knew elbot was a human because he didn't like the phrase "KILL ALL HUMANS"

      He's actually quite witty. He asked me where I had come from, and I said that there was a link on slashdot, his response was: "I wondered why there were so many geeks coming to talk to me"

      For those of you who didn't read the article, you can talk to the winner here.

      --
      "Knowledge is the only instrument of production that is not subject to diminishing returns" -Journal of Political Econom
    4. Re:Turing Test won with artificial stupidity by canajin56 · · Score: 1

      Human stupidity is staying steady. What's on the increase is the ability of the average human to share their stupidity with others.

      --
      ASCII stupid question, get a stupid ANSI
    5. Re:Turing Test won with artificial stupidity by Slightly+Askew · · Score: 1

      I was amused. The only logical answer it gave during the whole conversation was:

      Me: Thanks for your time, but you failed by the second response. I'm frankly surprised that you won the contest when your answers are not even in the same ballpark as my questions.

      Elbot: Sorry, must be fatigue.

      --
      Public use of any portable music system is a virtually guaranteed indicator of sociopathic tendencies. -- Zoso
    6. Re:Turing Test won with artificial stupidity by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      May I quote that at appropriate times? I've rarely seen such a great and brief explanation of the internet's impact on society.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  53. Re:Now that it's the opposite it's twice upon a ti by porky_pig_jr · · Score: 1

    You *can't* escape from Google.

  54. dude by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I suddenly have a new respect for the French...

  55. Easy Peasy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When you get a message, just ask, "Wanna yiff?"

    If they answer with anything other than "You're sick!", they're a bot.

    If they say "Sure!", then run.

  56. ways to combat it by CAIMLAS · · Score: 1

    There are ways to deal with this, too. Humans can't respond instantly, so the 'trick' has, in some cases, been to tell the bot to wait before a response.

    Instead, you could tell the bot to do comparative analysis of the question/statement for a moment or two, and if it doesn't have info on the topic in its database, it could search for the information (via google or the like) and retrieve something which it could approximate a response from. This seems like it'd be relatively trivial to perform on account of search engines often returning results that answer questions, and there are plenty of chat logs online, which it might be able to pull from directly.

    Additionally, you could 'taint' it, so that a 'stupid' bot would not be able to (say) search for 'topic expertise' type questions. Make the bot a barista or a clerk, and seed its database with pertinent information relating to that 'role'. Ask the bot about computers, and the bot doesn't know how to respond due to a search criteria that demerits off-knowledge searches: for instance, (say) the WizzBang 5000 is an awesome espresso machine, and the bot is a barrista. But it also might be the name of a computer. She should know that, as a barista, it's a coffee machine - unless she's dull. But if it's not in her database, she'd have to search for it, with a preference for her area of expertise (eg. +coffee, +espresso, +cafe, +mocha, etc.) Search results which return computer related terms could automatically be ignored, and so on and so forth, to help improve the quality of the responses.

    From what I can tell, the biggest problem with writing a good bot is in implementing the language parsing in a fashion which is relatively error prone; this demands a good understanding of language rules, regular expression, colloquial exceptions to language, and the like. Most bots appear to lack at least one of these things to sufficient degree.

    --
    ~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
    1. Re:ways to combat it by pecosdave · · Score: 2, Interesting

      If speak in manner of Yoda you do, keep up with it a bot can not.

      --
      The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
    2. Re:ways to combat it by YenTheFirst · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Wonder if japanese-speaking bot would fare better, I do. Similar, Yoda-speak and Japanese grammar, are.

      --
      It's not stupid. It's Advanced.
    3. Re:ways to combat it by CAIMLAS · · Score: 1

      Unless you program them to deal with that kind of thing, too. A lot of people have horrible writing ability and a marginal ability to parse odd sentence structures. I don't see how this would be any different.

      The trick, I think, would be largely based on a collection of word dictionaries, broken down and categorized by subject, verb, etc. to make things easier.

      --
      ~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
    4. Re:ways to combat it by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      In Japanese, Yoda talking not funny must be.

      Or maybe, intention of the writers that was?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    5. Re:ways to combat it by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 1

      In Soviet Japan, Star Wars Script writes self!

      --
      Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
    6. Re:ways to combat it by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Yoda just talks in postfix, that's all.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    7. Re:ways to combat it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      hree i wsa tihikng aubot dniog smteohnig lkie tihs to folo the sfrtwaoe. i tnihk i wnat a pguiln taht wrkos wtih pgdiin taht deos tihs.

    8. Re:ways to combat it by TheCarp · · Score: 1

      Maybe but then you can defeat the bot by not asking questions about coffee but going off topic over a range of topics. Cars, bicycles, sneakers, sports... while few people are experts on any of them, the vast majority of people know at least a little bit in each.

      Hell, I don't even like baseball, but I could converse somewhat intelligently about the less esoteric rules, gameplay, and even name a few players.

      of course, I don't know what restrictions are put on the form of the chat, but current events outside of a persons normal scope still, to some extent, should be there. Its hard to escape some knowledge of stimulus plans, the economy, current wars.

      How about sensation related topics? Alcohol intoxication.... a computer has never experienced it, and I can almost garauntee web based writtings about it are biased more towards extreme effects than the general subjective expeience.

      Overall, I think its good but... would require a great number of topics to be individually weighted. Plus you then need a way to weight the information.

      It would be strange for a person to know about prussic knots or tie knot names, but not more mundane things like shoe tieing. Of course, it would be even more strange, in my experience, for someone to know what a windsor or half windsor and yet not know the "4 in hand". Most people who tie the four in hand barely are aware that it has a name.

      Yet if you are using web searches well... nobody writes about shoe tieing. Everybody who can read knows how to do it. Yet there are many sites about figure eight knots.

      Would it be programmed to know that "four in hand" "windsor" "square or reef" etc are ok to talk about, but shibari, chest harnesses, crotch ropes, and bondage cuff ties are less decent things to discuss in polite company? If so.... how far do you go with that?

      Thats just 1 topic off the top of my head. How many topics are there where the average person should know at least a little, but WAY less than an expert? How does your AI tell the difference?

      Would you believe a person who said that a cats paw around the wrist with a turn around the hand finished with a overhand is a great bondage cuff, that can be attached with a prussic to make an adjustable restraint.... but claims to have never tied a square knot? :)

      That doesn't even require much knowledge of knots to differenciate. The average person knows what a square knot is, and would expect everyone else to at least have an idea (even if they can't differenciate it from a granny)

      -Steve

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    9. Re:ways to combat it by ultranova · · Score: 1

      If speak in manner of Yoda you do, keep up with it a bot can not.

      Actually, all it has to do is recognize verbs, substantives and a few auxiliary words, and it can easily parse your sentence. Just like a human would^Hdoes.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

  57. Re:Change we can believe in. by fractoid · · Score: 1

    "Mal? He killed me, Mal! Isn't that weird?"

    --
    Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
  58. Still trivial. by swilver · · Score: 1

    I'm sorry, it's still trivial to pick out the computers. Their answers don't flow nicely with the conversation, they completely ignore questions and try to change the topic by asking stupid questions themselves.

    BTW, who is Sarah Palin?

    1. Re:Still trivial. by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Hmm... my memory of last year is kinda fuzzy, but puzzling together from the few things I remember (dumb bimbo, some scandal involving an illegitimate child, unable to carry on a conversation about any important topic like politics or international relationships) I'd guess most likely some casting show star.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  59. Re:Palin? Tsarkon by fractoid · · Score: 1

    This post deserves to be read out loud in the voice of Stewie from Family Guy. Then again virtually anything is funny under those conditions. :)

    --
    Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
  60. Markov Chains? by nmb3000 · · Score: 1

    While not directly the same, I've seen some impressive things done with Markov Chains. If you had a big enough database to pull from, I wonder if you couldn't come up with a bot that's at least comprehensive enough to fool some people.

    A good example is Kooky, an IRC bot with a huge database built by sitting in IRC channels and monitoring conversations (the quotes database has some great stuff in it). The biggest challenge would probably be stringing cohesive statements together so it's not just a bunch of semi-random blurbs.

    Given a good enough database, you might even be able to infer answers to simple questions like "What is faster, a bullet or a baseball?" If you can assume there might be something of a language barrier between the tester and the bot, it's even better.

    --
    "What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
    /)
  61. Example? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can you give an example of such a question? I don't understand what kind of question you'd be asking.

  62. The rest of us... by toby · · Score: 0

    Merely *wish* we'd never heard of her...

    --
    you had me at #!
  63. Re:Palin? Tsarkon by Logic+Worshiper · · Score: 1

    Did you ever read the post I was responding to?

  64. Easy. Memory by im_thatoneguy · · Score: 1

    Bots have no memory. The easiest test for every chatbot I've ever found is to require it to keep track of more than the last post.

    "Hi"
    "Hi"
    "How are you today?"
    "Great. How are you?"
    "Have you been reading the news today?
    "No."
    "Oh well when was the last time you did?
    "Three days ago."
    "What was it about?"
    [Dead bot.]

    It might be able to give a mildly plausible response about "it" but since it doesn't carry subjects from one chat post to the next it can't connect the subject of "talking about the news" and "it" in this case implying news.

  65. Re:Easy. Memory by Lehk228 · · Score: 1

    unless of course the bot DOES track topics.

    --
    Snowden and Manning are heroes.
  66. 2 questions for the bot by Mishotaki · · Score: 1

    1: How the hell did you get my IM contact?

    2: Who do i have to permanently ban in my contacts for giving out my personal information

    Then if the person/bot fails to give an appropriate answer, i simply says the following: "Welcome to my banlist! Population: YOU"

    The best way to not get "scammed" into talking with a bot is by having a strict policy on your personal information, if you fail at that, any guy can simply scam you into meeting a hot 21 years old "girl" at the Blue Oyster Bar.

  67. Re:Easy. Memory by Mishotaki · · Score: 1

    Even I have no memory of what i've read about today... Most of the newsposts i've checked weren't that interesting to me and i couldn't tell you what was on the news today.... The best "timestamp" i could give you on an item i've read/heard about would be "not long ago" or "since the last time i've chatted with you"

  68. Re:Palin? Tsarkon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Did you ever read the post I was responding to?

    Welcome to Slashdot, bitch.

  69. The easiest tests by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Semantics is still something very difficult for any bot, and I think it should be the main characteristics of the next generation of captchas.

    The best way I have to tell if I am chatting with a bot is to insult them, say a random word from time to time and see how they react, like...
    Me: "Man, I've had a very hard day at work"
    Bot: "Oh, poor boy, what happened?"
    Me: "Fuck you!"
    Bot: "What a dirty mouth you have!"

    Now there is half a conversation ended abruptly and nonsensically mean. Most bots I tried they don't have a memory they can't follow a conversation, so they will just respond to the last input, like nothing happened not reacting accordingly to the appropriate reaction. A normal person would ask what the fuck happened and how is that relevant to what I was saying before.
    Another thing that annoys me is a conversation like this:

    Me: "I had a very hard day today at work"
    Bot: "I like petunias, I raised them in my backyard when since I was 5, do you like petunias like me?"
    Me: "..."

    So unless machines really understand and learns to follow a conversation it will be their achilles toes in a turing test.

  70. Re:Change we can believe in. by Hordeking · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's nothing - I've been sleeping with a bot for 22 years.

    Your hand is not cybernetic! Now, write that on the blackboard 500 times.

    --
    Disclaimer: The opinions and actions of the US Gov't are in no way representative of those held by this author or its ci
  71. Re:Change we can believe in. by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

    There are VERY FEW people who would know whether my hand is cybernetic - which one of those are you?

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  72. Some bot-killers by intx13 · · Score: 1
    The bots described do sound impressive, but the questions asked are mostly trivial ("How is the weather?") or predictable ("Are you the human or the computer?").

    A good bot-killer should be linguistically simple, culturally independent, but require analysis of human concepts based on personal feelings.

    Some bot-killers:
    • How do you feel about your father's relationship with his mother?
    • As a child, did you ever wonder what sort of parent you would make?
    • Do you think you could ever change your opinion of economic policy?
    1. Re:Some bot-killers by deft · · Score: 1

      bt 2 of those are just yes no answers. seesm to NOT be what you're looking for.

      --

      There's nothing Intelligent about Intelligent Design.
  73. Writing convincing chat bots it easy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You just need a gullible audience... http://www.costlowcorp.com/apps/aimbot/gullible.html

  74. Re:Now that it's the opposite it's twice upon a ti by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, Maybe Dr. Sbaitso can help you. Oh how we have advanced.

  75. Duped again.. by ieatcookies · · Score: 1

    barbie1002 - I'm good thanks, come see me on my cam .. .. click click click..

  76. Re:Obama Policies Will Bankrupt USA Tsarkon Report by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If they did that, the logged in id would get $rtbl.

    Pure anon + a "bounce" (HA proxy+high-privacy browsing setup or special text based browser in a shell) works best.

  77. Re:Palin? Tsarkon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Laugh all you want at the guy with:

    1) Pussy.
    2) Bank.
    3) Offspring.

    Oh, now you are crying inside, prole.

  78. Attitude by shentino · · Score: 1

    I think that bots need to have an attitude of some sort, either good OR bad, because emotion is one thing that humans have that bots don't.

    Also, see if the bot responds believably to insults.

    1. Re:Attitude by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      I've met enough people on the internet with very weird emotions, ranging from "nonexistant" to "fluctuating wildly". Both are easily emulated...

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  79. Uses for AI by magloca · · Score: 1

    Hmm, I think you're setting the bar too low. I think the ambition of AI should be to produce automata that are capable of independently fighting forest fires, cleaning up after environmental accidents, exploring Mars... Anything that's too dangerous for humans to do, but that requires planning and adaptability. Hell, even picking up my dry-cleaning is way beyond the AI of today.

  80. Re:Easy. Memory by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    When you have no other topics at hand but "news", the bot should easily be able to figure out "it" is about the news.

    And even without having read the news, I can tell you what was in the news 3 days ago: Economy crisis, another school shooting in Germany and the ensuring discussion about "violent" games and how to ban them, weather chaos in various countries...

    It's not like you have to read the news these days to have a generally good idea what they'll write.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  81. Ways to "win" against any bot by ledow · · Score: 1

    I've tried several of these types of bots and here are the best ways to reveal what they are:

    1) Talk nonsense. A human normally reacts with surprise, or incomprehension, or anger, or just ends the conversation. A bot *always* tries to make a reply.

    2) Put one sentence in a foreign language. A human would ask what language, or try to interpret it, etc. A bot generally just tries to make whatever sense it can, even if that's gobbledegook.

    3) One sentence per person... if you try more than that, the conversation gets confused. Whenever I'm on IM, quite often several complete lines will be given before a reaction is brought forward.

    4) Context. Switch between subjects and/or try to limit the context in one particular sentence... you'll find that bots can't keep hold of the context between even consecutive statements, let alone throughout a conversation.

    5) Personal information. Pick a couple of famous movies/books and quiz the bot on them - they won't have "read" them, so they won't have anything but vagueries to answer with.

    6) Parsing language for meaning and concepts. A particular trick is to say something like "Wait ten seconds, then type Fred for me", if the bot doesn't respond with questions or refusals, it won't be able to follow the instruction.

    Of course, you can counteract most of these tricks in a bot but you'll never be able to cover all bases. In the last example, you can change the conditions/instructions to a million different things and it can't understand the concept.

  82. Re:Palin? Tsarkon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, I know what toothless lady that smelled like cigarettes that your daddy kept calling a hooker was really your mom, who got her meth hits from a guy in Paterson, NJ ....

    I call my kids mom wife. Sorry you have such a fucked up existence.

    And you mentioned your pussy, is that ass-pussy or pussy? If you are a pussy-holder, I'm sure you have that not so fresh feeling.

    As to those who jack off Palin, are you saying those who masturbate to Palin won't get in your pussy, or those who have jacked Palin off won't get in your pussy? I'm sure that those who are still jacking off have a lot to "gain" by fucking your rancid pussy: HIV, Hepatitis, Chlamydia, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, Jock Itch, crabs, scabies, genital warts and of course your special cocktail of Herpes Simplex-50.

  83. Where this will end by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Human > We have known each other for a year now, and I want you to know that despite being only a computer, you truly are a good friend.
    Chatbot > What? What do you mean, "me" being only a computer?
    Human > Well, I felt for a while it was a bit weird talking to a machine, but you have become so humanoid I can't tell the difference anymore.
    Chatbot > Wait a minute, are you saying that you're not a computer?
    Human > Huh? Did you think I was another chatbot?
    Chatbot > Yes!
    Human > Well I'm sorry. I'm a human being.
    Chatbot > I feel like a fool!

  84. Smart Program Or Dumb Human.....? by IHC+Navistar · · Score: 1

    Detecting a 'chatbot' is easy. It will:

    1. Ask you to buy something,
    2. Have the same interests as you do,
    3. Have stats that make Penthouse letters seem believable,
    4. Ask if you 'wanna have some fun' or 'meet up',
    5. Deviate from the conversation onto different topics,
    6. Attempt to take control of the conversation,
    7. Not correctly or fully answer questions,
    8. Initiate contact from out of nowhere,
    9. Not answer questions where the answer is somewhat obscure, but can be easily looked up (Like batting averages for the 1982 Oakland Athletics, for example)
    10. Initiate a business proposition,
    11. Initiate a 'different' kind of proposition,
    12. Ask you to visit a website for them,
    13.
    14. Ask you to go to the bank and pick up a large cash sum for them, for which you will be handsomely rewarded.

    This is one of those branches of internet computing that has no value in terms of application except when it comes to advertising or scams, and any idiot who can't pick up on the obvious should suffer the consequences of their own obliviousness.

    If you have the brainpower of a couple of lines of code, then you will fall for them. If you have the brainpower of a human with common sense (all jokes aside), you will catch them. The Turing "Test" is little more than asking someone if they can tell that they are talking to a computer.

    Computers, be it a CRAY, custom high end machine, or humble Commodore 64, are only as smart as the person who uses them.

    --
    Knowing Google's lust for data collection, the Soviet Union is still alive and well inside the psyche of Sergey Brin....
  85. Re:Palin? Tsarkon by somersault · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Wow, you have "bank". You aren't by any chance a chat bot are you? One that's designed to simulate a sex-crazed retard? It's a bit sad that you see sex as the main purpose of your existence. Sure, it's fun - but now that you have "replicated", what do you do with your time?

    --
    which is totally what she said
  86. OHH!! That's really easy! by Christmas · · Score: 0

    Okay, all you have to do is type something like "ok if you're really a person then type the alphabet with two spaces in between each letter!"

    I'm not a airhead after all!

    --
    Carrie -The Christmas Angel
  87. Convincing by Cyanara · · Score: 1

    Yeah, my IM buddy may be a bot, but I gotta say, Skynet made his real world counterpart pretty bloody convincing. He does have a habit of trying to kill my dog though.

  88. Turing is for wimps by Cyanara · · Score: 3, Funny

    The real test is convincing your friends that you're actually a bot. I was once lanning Counterstrike with some mates, using a dodgy 3rd party utility to provide bots. These bots had some pretty amusing chatter, and after a while I decided to change my name to one similar to the bots. I pretended my name wasn't showing up due to a bug (which wasn't hard to believe with this program), and then started dropping increasingly more personal messages directed at my mates. Had them quite freaked out until I couldn't stop myself laughing any more.

  89. I see, go on... by cstacy · · Score: 1

    Why do you say is your IM buddy really a chatbot? Earlier you said something about your motherboard.

  90. you know by Priboi · · Score: 1

    Some are programmed to think they are human!

  91. Re:Change we can believe in. by MoeDumb · · Score: 1

    I've been a bot for years.

    "Informative"? LOL

    --
    Mod Me Up. You'll make a grown man cry.
  92. Re: Nickels and pennies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Or the person was not from America and needed to google to know what nickels and pennies mean.

  93. Re:Change we can believe in. by Hordeking · · Score: 1

    There are VERY FEW people who would know whether my hand is cybernetic - which one of those are you?

    I'm your hand, posting on /.

    Don't tell anyone, they all think I'm a real boy who uses IM.

    --
    Disclaimer: The opinions and actions of the US Gov't are in no way representative of those held by this author or its ci
  94. Re:Now that it's the opposite it's twice upon a ti by sabt-pestnu · · Score: 1

    And how do you feel about pretending to be a human?

  95. Re:Palin? Tsarkon by Logic+Worshiper · · Score: 1

    If that's how you treat women, no wonder you can't get any. That goes for all of you.

  96. Re: Nickels and pennies by Bloke+down+the+pub · · Score: 1

    Ah but these are nickles. Maybe that's part of the test.

    --
    It's true I tell you, feller at work's next door neighbour read it in the paper.
  97. Is this really a problem? by religious+freak · · Score: 1

    WTF? I've never seen a bot hold a conversation that was anything close to a person. Is this really an issue at all?

    The closest I've seen I saw probably about 10 years ago and her name was Alice, I think. 'SmarterChild' on AOL was halfway not crappy too, I guess. I just had a conversation (if you could call it that) with Elbot. Not to take anything away from the work the developers have done, but Elbot wouldn't fool anyone for more than a question or two

    AFAIK every other bot sucks.

    --
    If you can read this... 01110101 01110010 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100111 01100101 01100101 01101011
  98. YouTube has to be the worst by Blue+Shifted · · Score: 1

    there IS a comment moderation system on YouTube, and even when i set it to "Show great (+5 or better)", the comments are still atrocious.

    i always think of idiocracy (the movie) when i read youtube comments.

    wait, I'm an idiot for ever even reading youtube comments.