[Freddy]

Congratulations to David Levy, winner of the Loebner Prize 2009 for "most human computer". The contest was held September 6, 2009 in Brighton, UK. This year the contest drew only three finalists. In addition to Mr. Levy's program, the competitors included previous Loebner winner Rollo Carpenter and newcomer Mohan Embar. (Update: David Levy's program is called Do-Much-More and it is not yet available online).

As has been the case in previous years, no program fooled the judges by passing as a human. Instead, a bronze medal and cash prize are awarded to the program that comes closest to chatting like a human. The programs were instead scored based on rank. The results were as follows:

First Place David Levy - Rank 4.5
Second Place Rollo Carpenter - Rank 5.0
Third Place Mohan Embar - Rank 5.5

As you can see, the scores were very close.

David Levy is an international chess master, whose program Converse previously won the Loebner prize in 1997. He becomes the third two-time Loebner prize winner. Joseph Weintraub's PC Therapist won the bronze medal four times, and A.L.I.C.E. won three times.

Story by Dr R. Wallace.

Source : http://alicebot.blogspot.com/2009/09/david-levy-wins-loebner-2009.html

Also see : http://alicebot.blogspot.com/2009/09/updates-on-loebner-prize-2009-results.html

[Maviarab]

Congratulations David, well done.

We getting an interview this year...we lost out last year IIRC...

[Freddy]

Yeah I didn't have time last year.  Feel like putting together some questions ?

[Maviarab]

Sure...will work on it tomorrow...anyone else here has an interest and wants anything specific answering drop me a PM with your questions.

[Freddy]

Yes good idea, lets try and make this a group effort - questions please everyone 

[Maviarab]

Ok have so far (some same as previous years)....

How long did the Loebner winning bot take to develop ?

Previously we have asked past winners if they had any advice to pass on to budding bot makers - is there anything you would like to suggest ?

What in particular pleased you about your bot's performance ?

Do you think your grounding in chess helped ?

What is your view on  the falling number of competitors ?

Open to ideas for more..lets try and get a good interviews folks...

[Freddy]

How about :

Do you plan on developing this chatbot further ?

Any plans to release this chatbot to the general public ?

[Maviarab]

Good ones

[Freddy]

Good news, David Levy has agreed to the interview.  So come on folks, let's see if we can get some nice questions together.  Many thanks 

[lrh9]

Good ones

I agree. Freddy's questions are good.

[Maviarab]

Thats great news Freddy

[Freddy]

Here's a couple more :

What is it that fascinates you about chatbots.

Are there any techiniques that you see coming to the fore in chatbot development.

I think we will close on further questions at the end of today, I don't want to leave it too long before we send them off.  So if there is anyone else who has some ideas then please make sure they are in today.  Thanks.

[Freddy]

Just as an update, I have sent David the questions.  He also kindly supplied me with an article he wrote on this years competition so I will get that posted too ASAP.

[Maviarab]

Excellent, look forward to reading that

[Dante]

Bugger, well, I was gonna ask two questions;


Do you think future chat-bots, designed to care and educate, would be good for children?

What are your thoughts on the AI Effect (AKA: The fact that any advancement in AI means that psychological system is depreciated in both the sciences and society)


Let me know when you get a reply.