I'm not certain how many AIML botmasters there are here (aside from myself, that is), and I have no idea just how "new" this
AIML set actually is (I only just discovered it, so it's "new" to me), but I've just given it a good look-see, and I'm quite pleased with it, and here's why:
1.) It seems that they've taken the time and effort to separate ALICE's code from everything else, and placed it in it's own set of discrete files. I know that the earlier AAA set was supposed to do this (to an extent), but this more recent set has done a better job of "pulling ALICE out", saving the botmaster considerable time and effort.
2.) Much of the redundant code has been removed, leaving less bloat and waste. True, this AIML set is larger than the last one, but for a good reason, which is number:
3.) One of the 'best' improvements to this new AIML set is the addition of an AIML translation of
MindPixel. For those of you who don't know what MindPixel is, I strongly recommend that you read up on that link I just gave out. Basically, it's a huge list of questions with 'yes' or 'no' answers (and varying degrees of certainty in-between). For even the most dedicated botmaster, this 'database' represents probably a year or more of 'heavy coding' (at least 6 hours per day, 5 days per week) to create. And since I truly suck at coming up with spontaneous content, it would likely take me a lot longer. Granted, some of the questions are somewhat silly ("SHOULD SOFTWARE BE FREE"), and there are a few typos ("SHOULE YOU MEASURE TWICE AND CUT"), but all in all, I see this as a great benefit.
4.) And finally, this new set is a little more up-to-date than previous sets. One of the more tedious chores that a botmaster has is keeping the AIML current, with regards to political leaders and current events. While this set isn't "up to the minute" by any stretch of the imagination, it's far better than the AAA.
One of the plans I have for this new MindPixel data is to add a certain amount of randomness to the responses. Right now, if you were to ask a bot with this set installed "Should software be free", all you'll get, every time, is "I am certain". I think it would seem a lot more "human" to have a more varied answer, personally. Right now I have a category for "yes" that chooses randomly between around 50 affirmative answers. My "no" category has around 30 or so, but is expected to grow (only a couple of the "no" answers are simple re-wordings of a "yes" answer). It's the categories for the varying degrees of certainty ("maybe", it's likely", "I doubt it", etc.) that are going to give me the most grief, but I'm confident that it will certainly stand improved.
Anyway, I thought I would share this.
