Advanced Chatbot Could Help With Social Awkwardness

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Advanced Chatbot Could Help With Social Awkwardness

Posted by samzenpus on Sunday September 1, 2013 @06:02PM from the but-he-cannot-speak-it-good-like-we-do dept.

mikejuk writes "Researchers at MIT Media Lab are working on an automated personal-computer-based system designed to help people improve interpersonal and conversational skills. The software is called MACH, short for My Automated Conversation coacH (pdf). It makes use of a computer-generated onscreen face to simulate interactive conversations. It performs facial, speech, and behavior analysis and synthesis to emulate human-to-human responses. At the end of the session it provides the user with feedback on their performance. Using a webcam the program can analyze facial expressions, including smiling and head gestures while its voice recognition system analyzes not only what you say but also how you say it and notes non-verbal vocalizations. As feedback you watch the video side-by-side with the analysis of your behavior — see the video of it in action. It has already been shown to improve job interview techniques and other potential uses are coaching in public speaking and dating."

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Get off the internet and talk to girls by For+a+Free+Internet · 2013-09-01 18:07 · Score: -1, Flamebait

That is the cure, you buttfart-sniffing goatfuckers! Jeesus!

--
UNITE with the Campaign for a Free Internet because today, our future begins with tomorrow!
1. Re:Get off the internet and talk to girls by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 19:16 · Score: -1, Flamebait
  
  It's not as easy as it seems for people like us. I used talk to girls all the time, but their mothers usually came and snatch them away and one even called the cops on me! It's not as if I were going to do it right there! I was parked, like, a block away. The mistreatment I suffered in county lockup really hurt my people skills.
2. Re:Get off the internet and talk to girls by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 20:29 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Talking to girls is only possible if the girls also want to talk to you. Which is only the case if you already have sufficient interpersonal and conversational skills.
  It's like with learning a language. If you are sufficiently fluent in a foreign language, it helps a lot to talk to native speakers of that language to improve your language skills. However if you don't understand the language at all, talking to a native speaker is simply not possible.
3. Re:Get off the internet and talk to girls by Thry · 2013-09-01 23:06 · Score: 1
  
  Do you also think that allergies are cured by consuming loads of the allergen?
4. Re:Get off the internet and talk to girls by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-02 02:50 · Score: 0
  
  Some are...
5. Re:Get off the internet and talk to girls by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-02 02:58 · Score: -1
  
  It's really pathetic that this comment has been upvoted and marked as "funny".
  Yeah, child rape is funny.
6. Re:Get off the internet and talk to girls by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-02 04:00 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Piece of advice from someone who has "studied pickup" (yes, I confess to reading numerous pirated ebooks and watching in-field hidden camera videos) and consequently actually getting success with girls: If you really are so shy that you can't say anything to girls, you should start practicing by talking to girls that are obliged to respond positively. That is, go to (clothing) stores and talk to shop assistants - ask for advice because you need to buy a gift for your mother or your sister. Don't have the objective to pick her up (even though it's quite doable when you've gained experience), instead just try to get relaxed when talking to a girl. In general becoming more talkative around strangers makes it easier to talk to hot chicks so if you're not doing it, start greeting your neighbors etc. etc. Being a social person makes you attractive, if you're with a girl and a casual acquaintance just says "hi!" to you, it increases your value in her eyes.
7. Re:Get off the internet and talk to girls by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-02 04:13 · Score: 1
  
  Lighten up, Francis.
8. Re:Get off the internet and talk to girls by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-02 05:18 · Score: 0
  
  The Internet and especially so-called 'social media' claim to connect people and bring them together, but what I'm seeing more and more of is that it's doing the exact opposite of that: it's enabling socially avoidant people an excuse and a mechanism by which they can avoid actual contact with other people. You cannot build interpersonal skills with just text on a screen. I've been using computers since way before the Internet was even invented, let alone publicly accessible, back when all there was were BBSs (computer Bulletin Board Systems), it's been the same problem with them as with now, as I said above: it's not 'real' human interaction, it's just text on a screen. You don't get a tone of voice, facial expressions, body language, or experience dealing with the pressure of a real-time conversation where timing is just as important as content and you have to develop the ability to adapt in realtime. Even video chat isn't even close to the same thing as conversing with someone live, in-person, face-to-face. In addition to this so-called 'social media' has created a stratification: instead of people being just 'friends', now we have 'friends' (lower case), people we've never met in person (and likely never will) and 'Friends' (upper case), people we actually know in real life. The lower-case version, really, doesn't count; they may as well be computer simulations, just some server somewhere generating human-like responses, for all the value in real human interactions they represent. Some other commenter said "You don't cure allergies by taking large doses of what you're allergic to", which is wrong: I get allergy shots, and the antigens are made from what you're allergic to, and it builds up your immunity, the purpose of which is so you can, ultimately, stop having to take antihistamines. So it should be with human social development: You have social anxiety problems? You are afraid and avoid social situations? You need to force yourself to face those fears, make yourself enter into social situations. Yes, you'll have many failures, but how is that different from learning any other new skill? So while the OP was being a jerk about it, I agree with the spirit of what was said: Get off social media, get off the Internet, get out into the Real World, talk to actual living human beings, learn how to interact with them effectively; profit from it.
9. Re:Get off the internet and talk to girls by crutchy · 2013-09-02 10:09 · Score: 0
  
  That is the cure, you buttfart-sniffing goatfuckers! Jeesus!
  i'm guessing you don't talk to many girls
10. Re:Get off the internet and talk to girls by real-modo · 2013-09-02 10:14 · Score: 1
  
  Also, don't hog the conversation.
Vocabulary by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 18:11 · Score: -1

It helps with interpersonal communication really? We already have something like that its called a Dictionary! But if you want to help feel free to burn a few SAT prep books.
1. Re:Vocabulary by hairyfeet · 2013-09-01 18:51 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Never had to deal with someone with autism i take it? This sounds like it would be perfect for those with milder forms of autism to work on their ability to interact with strangers.
  
  --
  ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
2. Re:Vocabulary by multiben · 2013-09-01 19:01 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  A dictionary?! You use a dictionary for improving your interpersonal communication? Perhaps chatbot is exactly what you need.
3. Re:Vocabulary by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 20:31 · Score: 1
  
  Well, a dictionary of facial expressions could indeed be helpful.
4. Re:Vocabulary by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 22:23 · Score: 0
  
  And a dictionary of farcical expressions could indeed be funny. Then again, there is /.
5. Re:Vocabulary by Mashdar · 2013-09-02 01:58 · Score: 1
  
  False. This will never work. That acronym is an abomination. I'm serious.
6. Re:Vocabulary by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-02 02:12 · Score: 0
  
  I'm not sure hopw this will help with how distracting skin texture, follicle pattern and iris folds are, let alone incorrect pronunciation and useage.
7. Re:Vocabulary by Jmc23 · 2013-09-02 04:19 · Score: 1
  
  Nope, wouldn't help one bit. From personal experience, and from what most other autists say, the problem is not really looking at someones face. It's the excrutiating pain of looking at the eyes of a person full of deceit (read as: almost all humanity). The discongruity of what they are saying and what their eyes and body are saying is almost debilitating. On the rare occassions I run into someone that is all about truth there is absolutely no awkwardness and I can spend hours looking them directly in the eyes and making a connection with them.
  
  --
  Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
8. Re:Vocabulary by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-02 05:37 · Score: 0
  
  wow, never thought it that way, but from my experience this is so true - if you are acting like simpleton, there are many people who are coming to use your benevolence, like flies are coming to open honey jar.
  However there are many other problems, that come with lack of understanding how to use body language properly and autists here are acting like monkeys in front of mirror, where copying and sending back exactly same body language signals lead to disaster, because body language is meant for talking and not echoing... have you had any proper conversation with kid, who is repeating like parrot everything you say? It is irritating and childish and that is very big problem that in personal relationships and in professional life as well many things won't work, because of lack of understanding that people around you are actually perceiving you differently than you are thinking about yourself, because you are also constantly sending out wrong body language signals.
9. Re:Vocabulary by crutchy · 2013-09-02 10:13 · Score: 0
  
  This will never work.
  since just about everyone who has ever made such claim has been ultimately proven wrong, i'm sure the developers appreciate your blessing in disguise
  
  That acronym is an abomination
  that i actually agree with
Somehow this reminds me... by PhrostyMcByte · 2013-09-01 18:13 · Score: 4, Interesting

I guess some social skill is better than none, especially for those with serious disorders. This could have benefits.
Yet, somehow this reminds me of Comcast's CableCard activation line. Every time I've called it, I get someone sounding exactly the same... an guy with a truly bizarre, unplaceable and somewhat feminine accent and an equally WTF speech pattern.
Some outsourced call center is training every one of their employees to sound exactly the same, to the point that I've called from multiple time zones, at all hours of the day, and from different numbers/accounts and am still not entirely sure if they have more than a single sleepless extraterrestrial behind the phone. Creepy as hell. And this type of app sounds like just the thing to do that.
1. Re:Somehow this reminds me... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 20:39 · Score: 0
  
  Some outsourced call center is training every one of their employees to sound exactly the same, to the point that I've called from multiple time zones, at all hours of the day, and from different numbers/accounts and am still not entirely sure if they have more than a single sleepless extraterrestrial behind the phone
  It is best not to inquire further, Sir.
2. Re:Somehow this reminds me... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 21:54 · Score: 0
  
  Considering how few CableCard customers are left, Comcast can get away with literally having one person in the entire call center to handle cablecards. The poor sap likely works 12-16 hours a day 6 days a week for a few dollars per day, so if you call at any hour of the day and day of the week, you'll get him. Worse yet, he has to deal with snotty Tivo owners who are in denial about their product being obsolete and keep asking "Why can't I get On-Demand with this box.".
3. Re:Somehow this reminds me... by Guest316 · 2013-09-02 00:19 · Score: 1
  
  >Yet, somehow this reminds me of Comcast's CableCard activation line. Every time I've called it, I get someone sounding exactly the same
  Not unlike historical switchboard operators who were given standardized elocution training and all used to sound much the same.
4. Re:Somehow this reminds me... by GrumpySteen · 2013-09-02 01:46 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Some outsourced call center is training every one of their employees to sound exactly the same, to the point that I've called from multiple time zones, at all hours of the day, and from different numbers/accounts and am still not entirely sure if they have more than a single sleepless extraterrestrial behind the phone.
  Close, but they aren't intentionally training them to speak that way.
  Let me introduce you to IELTS, the International English Language Testing System.
  American companies like Comcast and the company I work for have call centers in other countries. Because of the language barrier, language testing is a big part of the hiring process. For my company, employees are also retested yearly and approximately 30% of their pay rate is a "language bonus" which they lose if they don't pass that test. This is not uncommon.
  Training in written and spoken English is up to the employee. The company may provide some reimbursement for the expense, but they generally won't provide the courses.
  English courses come in two types; one where you actually learn English and the other where you learn to pass the test. The latter is cheaper, so lots of people will go for it. Those are the people with the bizarre, unplaceable and someone feminine accent and equally WTF speech patterns.
5. Re:Somehow this reminds me... by GameboyRMH · 2013-09-02 02:23 · Score: 1
  
  Sure you're not speaking to an AI? Or maybe one person handling many conversations through text-to-speech interfaces?
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Talking to chatbots is socially awkward by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 18:19 · Score: 3, Funny

Just saying....
1. Re:Talking to chatbots is socially awkward by lxs · 2013-09-01 18:51 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  What about talking to chatbots is socially awkward makes you feel that way?
2. Re:Talking to chatbots is socially awkward by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 19:09 · Score: 0
  
  I do not understand what about talking to chatbots is socially awkward makes you feel that way.
3. Re:Talking to chatbots is socially awkward by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-02 01:22 · Score: 0
  
  Not as awkward as chatbot phone sex.
4. Re:Talking to chatbots is socially awkward by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-02 15:17 · Score: 1
  
  I do not understand what about talking to chatbots is socially awkward makes you feel that way.
  Late to the party, but thanks for the Eliza reference!
Chatbot? by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2013-09-01 18:53 · Score: 2

If these geeks want dates, I think they'd get more benefit out of a Bathbot.

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#DeleteChrome
1. Re:Chatbot? by Mashiki · 2013-09-01 19:20 · Score: 1
  
  Bathbot's are for hipsters. Geeks require something more...unique.
  
  --
  Om, nomnomnom...
2. Re:Chatbot? by biohack · 2013-09-01 21:56 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Do you mean one of these? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moydodyr
3. Re:Chatbot? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-02 02:49 · Score: 0
  
  Or shavebot.
Should be tested against placebo recording by abies · 2013-09-01 19:01 · Score: 2

I have no doubt that making a practice speech and then watching yourself on camera can help. People were doing it for ages. Question is if this 'bot' bolted on top of simple visual/audio feedback loop adds any value (or maybe it makes it worse then trying to analyse your performance without hindrance).
how does it cope with b**chy resting face? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 19:05 · Score: 2, Funny

The paper has a diagram showing a graph of % smile over time. Is this calibrated for those of us who suffer from b**chy resting face / resting a**hole face?
1. Re:how does it cope with b**chy resting face? by Jmc23 · 2013-09-02 04:23 · Score: 1
  
  You should have listened to your mother when she told you to stop making those faces or you would be stuck with it for the rest of your life!
  
  --
  Don't complain about syntax, grammar, or spelling. There is no.hell like input on android.
Microsoft Chat? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 19:06 · Score: 0

Isn't this much like Microsoft Chat, where every person in the irc channel was a comic character with expressions?
Sounds nice, but then again.... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 19:08 · Score: 0

This would be nice....But, I don't like the sound of it, that sound being that it'll work over the internet. I'm not going to use anything "in teh cloud". I can barely manage to work up the courage to shop at walmart, which is practically staffed with zombies. No way I'm going to upload this crap somewhere and be observed by a bunch of people watching my every twitch for a deeper meaning. NOOOOOO THANKYOU!
1. Re:Sounds nice, but then again.... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 19:21 · Score: -1
  
  That is just pathetic. I suggest suicide.
2. Re:Sounds nice, but then again.... by lxs · 2013-09-01 19:29 · Score: 2
  
  That's not social awkwardness. That's being a sarcastic misanthropic shit. Stop seeing the world like it's made up of machines. Inside each of these "zombies" lives a real human like yourself. Next time you go out to shop try to make their lives a little bit brighter and stop making it all about what you want. You'll be surprised at the results.
3. Re:Sounds nice, but then again.... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 20:38 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  No, he's right. Zombie apocalypse has broken out where he lives. He survived because the zombies couldn't recognize him as human, thanks to his awkward behaviour. They always think he's already one of them.
4. Re:Sounds nice, but then again.... by jones_supa · 2013-09-02 02:59 · Score: 1
  
  Soon he will be the only survivor and laughing hysterically carrying a shotgun and traveling across buildings which are on fire. He has created all sorts of gizmos to defend himself, such as a running diesel engine which as a sharp blade mounted to the axis, creating an automatic zombie chopper.
Sales training by Animats · 2013-09-01 19:11 · Score: 1

This is an automated form of sales training. That could be quite marketable.
Kat Karl naat by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 19:17 · Score: -1

KAT KARILIINDA ARSANIZI MÜTEAHHTLERE VERRKEN NELERE DKKAT ETMELSNZ
Arsasn kat karl müteahhitlere vermeyi düünenlerin dikkat etmesi daha dorusu bilmesi gereken, pek çok nokta bulunuyor. Aksi takdirde sonuç hayal krkl olabiliyor. Platin Group A.. olarak sizleri bu konuda bilgilendirmek üzere bu yazy hazrlam bulunuyoruz.
kat karl inaat http://www.platingroup.com.tr/kat-karsiligi-projeler.html
Pub-bot by Neo-Rio-101 · 2013-09-01 19:32 · Score: 2

How about a chat-bot that simulates a night down at the local-pub ...or better yet, a robot that takes anti-social people there so they can get away from their computer?

--
READY.
PRINT ""+-0
DR SBAITSO is the only one for me by epyT-R · 2013-09-01 19:35 · Score: 1

DR SBAITSO, by creative labs, please enter your name: fuck
hello fuck,
I am here to help you. say whatever is on your mind freely. our conversation will be kept in strict confidence. memory contents will be wiped off after you leave. So, tell me about your problems.
>fuck.
I will get parity error if you keep talking in this asdf way.
>fuck
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP
PARITY
>lets talk about sexy stuffs.
How old are you?
>13
wait a few more years kid..
1. Re:DR SBAITSO is the only one for me by jones_supa · 2013-09-02 03:04 · Score: 1
  
  Wow, Dr. Sbaitso is a true classic. The Creative Labs software bundle included also some other cool apps, like the talking parrot. I wish HW manufacturers still would ship that kind of funky software with their products.
Fuck it, we're over. by Seumas · 2013-09-01 19:35 · Score: 2

Now, instead of just communicating with each other -- sometimes awkwardly, I guess -- humans are going to be taught by a computer how to talk to other humans.
1. Re:Fuck it, we're over. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 21:00 · Score: 0
  
  Human interaction is not forgiving. You rarely find people who tell you "oh, btw, could you please stop saying xxx or do xxx, it is awkward?". Instead, what happens is you meet somebody for the first time, looks like an idiot, and you avoid him for the rest of his lifetime.
  I know because that's what I do.
2. Re:Fuck it, we're over. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 21:41 · Score: 0
  
  Ummm, yes, and so? There are over 7 billion humans on this rock. You could add 3 people to your "avoid" list every second and not run out of people for the rest of your life. And that's not even taking into accout the fact that the pool of humans refreshes way faster than that.
3. Re:Fuck it, we're over. by LostMonk · 2013-09-02 00:57 · Score: 1
  
  Really? For most of us 99.9999% of those 7 billion are out of reach, then remove of the remaining 0.00001% those of unwanted age, sex, language, looks and you're left with a surprisingly small minority. if you find ONE your in luck.
4. Re:Fuck it, we're over. by Seumas · 2013-09-02 07:14 · Score: 1
  
  I'll take awkward people and situations over people practiced to honed efficiency for maximal human interaction by a machine, any day. One is real. The other is fake. One is someone with a bit of oddness to them (or even just inefficiency, I suppose) and the other is a glossy car salesmen. One is honest human interaction and the other is a practiced manipulative sociopath.
  I only see a couple places where this would actually be useful without being gross. One is where people have very severe communication problems that keep them from functioning. I'm not talking about people who don't constantly stare in your eyeballs or don't choose the right words to get the most maximum buy-in from the listener to their ideas. I'm talking everything from people who don't have the capability to distinguish emotion on another person's face or who are so shy that they can't step outside their house and maybe practicing on a machine will help them. The other is familiarizing yourself with another culture. For example, if you're going to be doing a lot of business with Japanese companies or are moving to Japan. A system like this could be potentially very useful in acclimating yourself to Japanese customs and expectations so that you can handle situations that are not awkward, but literally completely foreign to you.
  I abhor the idea that we'd want to put everyone through a computerized system that essentially teaches every human how to glad-hand each other.
The only downside is by OhANameWhatName · 2013-09-01 19:39 · Score: 5, Funny

... that geeks will start breeding.
1. Re:The only downside is by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 20:02 · Score: 1
  
  That is the only way to save the planet at this point.
  captcha: tracked LOL.
2. Re:The only downside is by Type44Q · 2013-09-02 03:16 · Score: 1
  
  That is the only way to save the planet at this point.
  I get it; sort of like Bán Tre:
  "It became necessary to destroy the town to save it," a United States major said today.
3. Re:The only downside is by antdude · 2013-09-02 08:55 · Score: 1
  
  Isn't that a good thing? We need more geeks to bite chickens' heads off. ;)
  
  --
  Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Blind leading the blind by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 19:55 · Score: 5, Funny

Socially awkward nerds build machine for socially awkward nerds to learn to be less awkward.
1. Re:Blind leading the blind by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 23:57 · Score: 0
  
  Because only nerds care about this problem. Everyone else is happy how they remove themselves from the gene pool.
So they are trying to make a bot that passes the by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 20:20 · Score: 0

So they are trying to make a bot that passes the turing test?
Testing 123 by Tablizer · 2013-09-01 20:27 · Score: 0

Hitler Hitler Hitler!
Uh, it doesn't seem to be working.

--
Table-ized A.I.
1. Re:Testing 123 by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 21:31 · Score: -1
  
  Godwin fault.
  Thread dumped.
Solution looking for a problem by Tablizer · 2013-09-01 20:36 · Score: 1

There are plenty of unemployed sociologist grads. So why does this need automating? Focus on making a bot that does dishes first.

--
Table-ized A.I.
1. Re:Solution looking for a problem by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 21:22 · Score: 1
  
  Focus on making a bot that does dishes first.
  You mean a dishwasher? I'm pretty sure that already exists.
2. Re:Solution looking for a problem by Tablizer · 2013-09-03 18:21 · Score: 1
  
  Good counseling takes skill.
  
  --
  Table-ized A.I.
Re:So they are trying to make a bot that passes th by lxs · 2013-09-01 20:39 · Score: 2

No. They are trying to apply a technological solution to a social problem.
MyAutomatedConversationCoach by nachtkap · 2013-09-01 21:58 · Score: 1

The MIT site: http://web.media.mit.edu/~mehoque/MACH.htm for the project has a bit more content in the form of before and after vids. The site links to http://web.media.mit.edu/~mehoque/SignUpForMACH.htm if you are interested in try MACH out.

Is MACH available for me to use?
We would love to make the system available to the general mass for free. Here are the caveats.
MACH was developed as part of a PhD thesis consisting of more than half a million lines of code. The current prototype works on a personal laptop. However, it is an extremely complicated system that we were able to put together with 2 years of effort.
In order to make a public release with seamless interaction experience, we would need to do more testing.
It is possible to make MACH work in a computer browser and make it widely accessible. However, that will require hiring 2-3 full time software engineers with 6-12 months of development and test period. Currently, we are looking for resources to make that happen. If you are in a position to support our work, or know of any funding agencies who might be interested to fund us, please do get in touch (mehoque at media dot mit dot edu) with us. In the mean time, please feel free to write/tweet to AutismSpeaks, NLMFF, Autism Science Foundation
I am remote and I would like to participate in your studies.
Recruiting participants is the most challenging part of our research and we appreciate your interest. However, with our current experimental set up, it makes it very difficult for us to recruit participants unless they are local. We hope to address this issue by developing an online version of our system.
I would like to be notified when the system becomes available to public.
Please sign up here. http://goo.gl/LDwb8
Add a sperm collecting device. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 22:03 · Score: 0

And then socially awkward men would have even less need to interact with other human beings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwLy8sHH5as
Competition by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-01 23:46 · Score: 0

Sounds like Slashdot has some serious competition ...
News for Nerds! by Culture20 · 2013-09-02 00:43 · Score: 2

Finally!
second life? by nurb432 · 2013-09-02 02:54 · Score: 1

Same idea, but with real people behind the avatar.

--
---- Booth was a patriot ----
1. Re:second life? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-02 04:06 · Score: 0
  
  Nice try, but is not the same. On the SL you can disconnect and/or create another profile when things goes wrong.
Wrong by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-02 02:55 · Score: 1

There's only 1 requirement.
Don't be unattractive.
1. Re:Wrong by N0Man74 · 2013-09-02 05:27 · Score: 2
  
  There's only 1 requirement.
  Don't be unattractive.
  I'm unattractive, a bit eccentric, a tiny bit awkward, but even I manage to strike up interesting conversations with women sometimes. The truth is, it's really as simple as not making them feel awkward or threatened, and coming off as confident.
  You don't have to be an alpha male, follow a technique, a jerk, or any of the things people sometimes say you have to do to talk to women. You don't even be "normal". Many women will respond positively to you simply being comfortable with yourself, and not doing something to specifically make them uncomfortable.
  In case it's not obvious... you not being comfortable is a good way to make others around you feel uncomfortable. Don't take things so seriously. Relax.
irony by peter303 · 2013-09-02 06:13 · Score: 1

A compuer app to help peole who spend too much time on computers and video games.
No, not moleys. by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · 2013-09-02 06:33 · Score: 1

The Mole Man creating an entire underground society of fake humans in which to hang out doesn't sound so stupid now, does it John Byrne!

--
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Did you see that ludicrous display last night? by Skuld-Chan · 2013-09-02 07:26 · Score: 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKHyqjHqQLU
If you need real human interaction... by John+Allsup · 2013-09-02 08:26 · Score: 1

If human interaction is what you need practice with, a computer is a poor substitute.

--
John_Chalisque
1. Re:If you need real human interaction... by RespekMyAthorati · 2013-09-02 09:20 · Score: 1
  
  Better than nothing.
  I think the point is that if you are too shy to talk to a real person,
  at least you can "talk" to the bot and not be embarrassed by how badly you suck at conversation.
  If it helps anybody, I'm all for it.
So... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-02 11:11 · Score: 0

...it adapts socially awkward people to communicate more freely with chatbots. Sounds legit.
it works by Dan9999 · 2013-09-03 00:01 · Score: 1

I know one that has spent time with the web and irc chatbots. It has helped his social awkwardness immensely.
Forced conformity by hort_wort · 2013-09-03 08:34 · Score: 1

I happen to prefer it when people fidget and look at their feet during a conversation. It gives me the impression that they're more emotionally involved in the conversation. It demonstrates a natural respect for my opinion.
Just because the extroverts on tv have conversations with eye contact doesn't mean it's the "correct" approach.