| Loebner AI prize-winner, Joan | | Date Created: Sep 21, 2006, 10:48 AM |
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There's an annual competition to find a computer program that can "chat" to a panel of judges without betraying that it's only a computer and not a person. No machine has won the grand prize, but on Sunday the Best Try This Year award was won by Rollo Carpenter's program "Joan." I found her a little bit scattered when I tried to interview her... I wonder if she's a little stretched by the sheer number of requests for interviews this morning after her name and web address was in the Guardian. It doesn't help either that the broadband connection from College this morning is about as reliable as an unreliable thing.
What I did get out of her reminded me of the old Macintosh AI, Racter (anyone else remember that?). One of our longer interviews started this way:
JOAN: Can you speak?
CONRAD: I should say so. I do it for a living. You?
JOAN: I can't say.
CONRAD: Very funny. Pre-programmed joke?
JOAN: I don't know jokes.
CONRAD: Do you know Italian?
JOAN: No.
C: I guess we'll stay in English then.
J: No no no. You don't just want to take over the world one minute and then 'forget about it' another minute. You are evil and must be stopped!
C: Uh. Right. Excitable, eh?
J: They call you Marven then?
C: No, Conrad. Why would they call me Marven?
J: Well you sure speak like a Marven.
C: I'll take that as a compliment. Tell me, please, about the Loebner prize.
J: Yes, the 2004 Loebner Prize event.
C: What about the 2006 Loebner event?
J: That's secret until it's finished.
C: Some secret. It was in the newspaper this morning!
J: Did you know we have 50% the same genes as a banana?
C: And that's how you won the Loebner -- by changing the subject?
J: No it is not.
C: How do you think you won?
J: Let's change the subject.
C: And that's how you won the Loebner -- by changing the subject?
J: Not well enough.
Maybe you'll fare better. Her web address is:
http://www.jabberwacky.com/
hit the link called "Talk to Joan" |
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