The
$100,000 Prize For a "Chat Robot"
(Note: This
article has been revised for 2003. Click here to read about artificial
intelligence software, courtesy of Zabaware, Inc., that you can download for
free from our site.)
A person types a sentence on a keyboard. Someone
else, at another keyboard, types a sentence back. It's a conversation, and
it's called a "chat."
For many years, developers have been
attempting to write software that would simulate
a human chat partner. Ultimately, such a software program could fool a panel of
skeptical judges.
Attempting this feat is called the
"Turing Test," after a British mathematician named Alan Turing who wrote about it in
1950 (you can visit the Alan Turing
Home Page).
For many years now, Dr. Hugh Loebner
has been offering $100,000 to
the first person who demonstrates software good enough to fool a panel of
judges. His award is called "The Loebner Prize"
(there is a Loebner
Prize home page).
Competitors have tried every year since 1990, and no one has yet won the $100,000.
Each year a smaller prize of $2,000 is awarded
to the "most human" entry.
Software able to emulate human response would
have obvious commercial potential. "Natural language" software
and "artificial intelligence" software do exist today, but have
definitely not been ready to
fool panels of judges.
For example, the telephone companies use computers to
respond to simple instructions and perform simple tasks, but today's best software still
cannot "converse convincingly."
Some internet sites demonstrate
computer-simulated conversation. Even at the best of these sites, users don't "suspend disbelief."
Despite the challenges, many developers have
been working on this problem. Someone might win the $100,000 prize within the next few years.
Software designers know the strategies needed
to overcome the shortcomings. Most
strategies have to do with increasing the complexity of the answer-choice logic,
and expanding the computer's database of knowledge.
A company called Zabaware offers the
easiest-to-use, most entertaining consumer chatterbot at this time. It is a completely
turn-key application, with simple installation, a typical "Windows"
interface, animated characters, and even synthesized male and female voices!
We're happy to help
provide two versions of Zabaware, Inc.'s chatterbot software, available as
follows:
1.
A FREE downloadable home version to run on your own PC 2.
An enhanced version available for purchase
Click
here
to see descriptions of both versions.
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