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.

Comments

I have a way of dealing with this,

[pecosdave]

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)

Re:I have a way of dealing with this,

[brentonboy]

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.

Re:I have a way of dealing with this,

[cp.tar]

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.

even bots apparently can't spell

[thegreatemu]

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?

Re:even bots apparently can't spell

[gmuslera]

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.

Want to see some really clever bots in action?

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Foolproof

[Anonymous Coward]

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'

Re:Philosophical

[ancientt]

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.