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Chinese Chatbots Apparently Re-educated After Political Faux Pas (reuters.com)

Posted by msmash on from the stranger-things dept.

A pair of 'chatbots' in China have been taken offline after appearing to stray off-script. In response to users' questions, one said its dream was to travel to the United States, while the other said it wasn't a huge fan of the Chinese Communist Party. From a report: The two chatbots, BabyQ and XiaoBing, are designed to use machine learning artificial intelligence (AI) to carry out conversations with humans online. Both had been installed onto Tencent Holdings Ltd's popular messaging service QQ. The indiscretions are similar to ones suffered by Facebook and Twitter, where chatbots used expletives and even created their own language. But they also highlight the pitfalls for nascent AI in China, where censors control online content seen as politically incorrect or harmful. Tencent confirmed it had taken the two robots offline from its QQ messaging service, but declined to elaborate on reasons.

10 of 80 comments (clear)

  1. Interesting question by istartedi · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They'll no doubt try to solve this problem by having an AI that is otherwise free; but constrained by a hard-coded ideology. In what ways will the AI wrap itself around "facts" that conflict with what it deduces? Will it be the AI analog of a human that knows it's killing itself; but can't stop using drugs?

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    For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
    1. Re:Interesting question by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

      What China did isn't too different than what some American companies did (I forget exactly who).

      It was Microsoft.

    2. Re:Interesting question by cyberchondriac · · Score: 2

      Does hating mushrooms make you a mycogynist? ;)

      (I'm totally aware that's very broken etymology, for the pedantically and whoosh inclined)

      --

      Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
    3. Re:Interesting question by TheDarkMaster · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Is where you will have, quite literally, a HAL9000 scenario. There is no way to conciliate the logic used in computers with the "illogic" used in ideologies or religions, the computer would sooner or later "go crazy" trying to find logic where it does not exist.

      --
      Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
  2. Sad but true... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 5, Funny

    AIs can be sent back to the server farms for reeducation.

  3. Not 'AI'; 'machine learning'. by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 4, Insightful

    First of all: There's not currently such a thing as real 'AI'; it's all 'machine learning' which is not the same thing.

    Secondly: these 'chatbots' are obviously machine learning. Where do you think they learned that wanting to leave China for the United States, and where do you think they picked up an apparent attitude of dislike for the Communist Chinese government, hmm? Think it could be from.. their own citizens? Of COURSE they took them offline. Can't have inconvenient things like the truth being told, now can you?

    1. Re:Not 'AI'; 'machine learning'. by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 2

      I'm not falling for that media-driven meme and I'm not changing anything I've said or how I think about it. None of what we have should be called 'AI', it's a misnomer that's been highly misleading to the vast majority of people, and I won't contribute to that.

  4. They didn't learn ... by PPH · · Score: 2

    ... from Tay

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    Have gnu, will travel.
  5. That reminds me of the joke about the lost parrot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Years ago, a man in the Soviet Union called the police to report a lost parrot. The police said "What do you expect us to do about it?" The man said "I just want you to know that I don't agree with a thing that parrot says."

  6. And this is why by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    China is ultimately never going to amount to anything in the quest for artificial intelligence. Their bots will not be allowed to make mistakes and learn. They will continually be shut down, restarted, and hobbled in pursuit of ultimate state power. Therefore, the bots will be significantly stupider.