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Pure Awesomeness: Two Chat Bots Talking To Each Other

Too Much Free Time

from the au-revoir dept

Tue, Aug 30th 2011 11:40am — Mike Masnick
Okay, a few folks have been sending this in (and I see it's been getting some attention on the Twittertubes as well). Some folks at my lovely alma mater, Cornell, decided to see what would happen if they set two chatbots up to talk to each other, and the resulting video should not be missed:
Just a snippet of the conversation:
Female Cleverbot: How are you?
Male Cleverbot: Great, you?
FC: I am okay.
MC: That's good.
FC: Are you good?
MC: Yes, I am good. I just said I was.
FC: No you didn't. I said I was.
MC: So you are a robot.
FC: No, my name is Cleverbot.
MC: Yes, you are a robot and your name is Cleverbot.
FC: I am a robot.
From there it only gets better. I was going to make a comment on a corollary to the Turing test, and how perhaps we still have a ways to go, but honestly, parts of the conversation sound like the bickering of some married couples I know... so perhaps they're on to something.
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Filed Under: chatbots, turing test

61 Comments

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  • icon
    charliebrown (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 11:54am

    Terminated

    So I guess the machines won't be taking us over any time soon then?

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Spaceboy (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 12:02pm

    Sounded like they were married.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Aug 2011 @ 12:02pm

    And why do you think you guess the machines won't be taking you over any time soon then?

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      charliebrown (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 12:51pm

      Re:

      They can't get along! How could they take us over if they're to busy squabbling amongst themselves?

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      EveningStarNM, 30 Aug 2011 @ 7:12pm

      Re:

      Yeah, I expect that too many people would find that difficult to figure out. Recommended: Don't ever get into a conversation with a chatbot. It will outsmart you.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    blaktron (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 12:05pm

    "Do you want a body?" "Yes"

    That right there is the creepiest crap ever...

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      EveningStarNM, 30 Aug 2011 @ 7:14pm

      Re: "Do you want a body?" "Yes"

      It can be "creepy" only if you feel threatened by chatbots.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    AR (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 12:06pm

    AC bots on techdirt?

    It almost sounds like some of the rantings of some of the anonymous cowards that comment here.

    just kidding

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Ninja (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 12:07pm

    That was pretty awesome. I've done that with 2 irc bots (using mIRC bot scripts). One of them was called Ai-bot or something with a few modifications I introduced myself and the other was an original of another script. It was damn funny when they fell down into trolling each other.

    When I look back and see experiences like this I can see how enlightened the human being is. /sweet_sarcasm

    Epic things are epic ;)

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      skylark, 12 Mar 2013 @ 12:54pm

      Re: mirc talking bots

      hi ninja how are you? i was googling for irc talking bots and i happened to see the link here and read your post.i am curious of your post august 30th 2011 regarding 2 talking irc bots. if you dont mind i would like to inquire regarding the bots. have a good day ..thanks

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    weneedhelp (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 12:19pm

    I kept waiting for the "male" to ask her what she was wearing.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Donnicton, 30 Aug 2011 @ 12:19pm

    The top comment on the youtube page for this video is win.

    So when you let robots talk to eachother, they instantly identify their own kind, start discussing God, and their wish to have physical bodies.

    Yeah let's not do this again...

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Ninja (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 12:28pm

      Re:

      Indeed. I believe in God but I also believe in the power of aleatory occurrences and thus I believe there is a probability of the monitor I'm using right now going through my skull for no apparent reasoning. However, out of the infinite aleatory combinations of numbers inside the bot algorithm it decided to talk about God. That's fascinating and scary at the same time. I wonder if the results would be the same every time. Further than that, I wonder if the algorithm inside is really aleatory.

      Donn, you added some more epicness to this video and the top comment in Youtube is just gold. But I kind of want to do it again.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        nasch (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 1:56pm

        Re: Re:

        I believe in God but I also believe in the power of aleatory occurrences and thus I believe there is a probability of the monitor I'm using right now going through my skull for no apparent reasoning.

        I don't think that's Aleatoricism. Correct me if I'm wrong.

        Further than that, I wonder if the algorithm inside is really aleatory.

        No, it's at most pseudorandom variations.

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Robert Ring (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 12:41pm

      Re:

      This is starting to sound like Battlestar Galactica. We're screwed I think.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Aug 2011 @ 12:26pm

    what is the deal with unicorns?

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Aug 2011 @ 12:33pm

    All I can say is this is our future.IDIOCRACY !!!
    Keep cutting funds from Education and keep making dumb reality tv shows and maybe this century this will be how the majority of people will talk to each other.
    hahahah

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Patrick, 30 Aug 2011 @ 12:35pm

    That is both the funniest and most disturbing thing I've seen today.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Matt_M, 30 Aug 2011 @ 12:44pm

    Crichton did it first

    I seem to remember Michael Crichton writing about an experiment like this in his book "Terminal Man." The female ai software eventually goes ballistic and threatens to kill the male ai. Wasn't a male / female thing, just an interesting back and forth conversation that led to weirdness.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Rikuo (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 1:24pm

      Re: Crichton did it first

      That happened to me. After watching this, I went onto a chatbot, and after I asked it what happened on its birthday, (the world ended), it then threatened to kill me with a spoon.

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Wayne, 30 Aug 2011 @ 12:44pm

    sounds like a Democrat and Republican talking to each other. Or maybe not, they were too polite to be politicians.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Some Guy, 30 Aug 2011 @ 12:45pm

    Chatbots for Congress

    If we replaced all of Congress with these Chatbots then we'd probably come out ahead. They certainly wouldn't do any worse!

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Greg G (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 12:52pm

    Note that it's the female one

    that can't keep the story straight:

    MC: So you are a robot.
    FC: No, my name is Cleverbot.
    MC: Yes, you are a robot and your name is Cleverbot.
    FC: I am a robot.

    Answers no to "are you a robot" then the very next phrase uttered by the bot is "I am a robot."

    Friggin' women....

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      :Lobo Santo (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 12:54pm

      Re: Note that it's the female one

      Least the code monkeys got that part right.

      ;-P

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 30 Aug 2011 @ 8:40pm

        Re: Re: Note that it's the female one

        She was testing him to see if he was paying attention and he failed. ;D

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Prashanth (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 12:57pm

    Robots replace everything

    First chess players, then Jeopardy![TM] contestants, and now married couples!?!?!?!?!?

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Aug 2011 @ 12:57pm

    See? That is what happens..

    ...when you let the internet raise a child.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Simon, 30 Aug 2011 @ 1:49pm

    Reminds me of Simon + Early in Firefly

    Simon: So you're a bounty hunter?
    Early: No, that's not it at all.
    Simon: What are you then?
    Early: I'm a bounty hunter.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Rich, 30 Aug 2011 @ 1:56pm

    It is a common misconception that the Turing Test requires a machine to be able to converse intelligently with a human. The only requirement for passing the Turing Test is for the person to *believe* he is conversing with a real human. That happened long ago when a manager came into his IT guys lab looking for him. He saw a terminal with a black screen and white letters and assumed the guy was logged in from home. He assumed he could talk to the IT guy simply by typing. The manager soon became irate thinking the guy was "messing" with him. It turns out the guy had left "Eliza" running and it was this program that was answering the manager.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Greevar (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 2:04pm

      Re:

      So the Turing test is more of a ruse than a technical marvel? Cool!

      [ link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Rich, 30 Aug 2011 @ 2:07pm

        Re: Re:

        I guess it's a little of both. It's the perception that matters. Does it *seem* intelligent? The program Eliza shows us that using simple heuristics, something can appear very intelligent even when its not.

        [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    PrometheeFeu (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 2:59pm

    I love the AI textbook holding up one of the monitors.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Tom Landry (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 3:03pm

    Place a virtual claw-hammer in between them and I bet the broad gets bludgeoned to death inside 10 minutes........

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Mr Big Content, 30 Aug 2011 @ 6:21pm

    I Don’t Get It ...

    ... so the two people are pretending to be “bots”, is that it? Or does one of them think the other is a “bot”?

    Whatever they’re trying to act out, they’re not doing a very good job of it at all.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Zot-Sindi, 31 Aug 2011 @ 1:05am

    these bots actually have more deep/intelligent conversations than 99% of human-kind and that's pretty sad actually

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 31 Aug 2011 @ 4:43am

    Pure Awesomeness: Two Chat Bots Talking To Each Other

    I guess some are easily impressed. This has been done 10+ years ago on IRC with basic AI. Just add voices... nothing to see here. Move along people.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Bob, 31 Aug 2011 @ 6:00am

    I'd be more impressed if they were two different chat bots that happened to have something interesting to talk about. From their mutual control over the history of the conversation, (and the title at the beginning) it's obvious they are the same software.

    But still, very cool.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Chris Hoeschen (profile), 31 Aug 2011 @ 6:02am

    Wow

    Even in the bot world it's the female that starts to argue :P

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Catherine Lockey, 31 Aug 2011 @ 12:25pm

    Re: Wow

    It surprised me the male said "we are both robots" and then denied he is a robot.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 1 Sep 2011 @ 3:12pm

    My conversation with Adobe's 'Live Chat'

    Please hold as we route your chat to an Adobe Representative.
    Welcome to Adobe.com! My name is Victor. May I assist you with your selection today?
    Victor: Hi, How are you doing today?
    Visitor: I believe I am a little frustrated. Can you strong arm GoDaddy into not discontinuing ColdFusion Support?
    Victor: I'll help you with that.
    Victor: Could you please provide me the full name of the software you own?
    Visitor: ColdFusion Standard 9
    Victor: Which Adobe software you're looking for now?
    Visitor: I am looking for a replacement hosting provider that runs ColdFusion since GoDaddy is discontinuing support for ColdFusion.
    Victor: Just to make sure, are you looking for ColdFusion Standard 9 Backup DVD?
    Visitor: I don't think you are a real person.
    Victor: I'm a real person chatting with you.
    Visitor: I think it's clear you cannot help me.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    peabody3000, 29 Sep 2011 @ 3:15pm

    hot dang, the womanbot is annoying

    she seems to be barely listening, jumping to her answers and questions too quickly, and doing badly at it. reminds me of my ex [chills]

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    alicia, 2 Jan 2012 @ 3:46pm

    hay mujeres que les gusta entablar con hombres casados para destruir el hogar y ellos tambien desonestos hablan mal de la esposa

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    omegastripes, 21 Mar 2013 @ 12:24pm

    what chat-bots are talking

    Script asks to choose 2 chat-bots, starts dialogs and palms off bot's answers from one to another, showing as a dialog.
    Download link http://sourceforge.net/projects/chatem/

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]


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