[Freddy]

I finally saw chatbots and Rollo's 'Joan' covered in the UK news.  He was in the studio and was interviewed by the presenter, even so far as giving a demonstration with the avatar hooked up to a massive video display.

Joan didn't have a lot to say, but impressed the presenter!  It was brilliant to finally see our corner of the AI world get some coverage, so well done to Rollo and congratulations.  It's about time !

I chuckled at one point because the presenter said that Britain was leading the way in AI..soooo I want to apologise on behalf of our nation (lol) as I know that although Rollo is probably the best known UK bot maker - BUT much of this type of AI work is being done by people from all manner of walks and countries - and a lot of the time by working together.

Typical UK news I am afraid, I hope you're all laughing as much as I am  :grin

If you didn't already know then Rollo Carpenters site and jabberwacky can be found here:

Jabberwacky

[GamerThom]

Bravo! for Rollo.  :afro

Sometimes I watch the BBC world news, just to get a chuckle mind you.  :2funny

[Freddy]

Duh!  I should have said the main reason he was on the news was that for the second year running he won the Loebner Prize, which does give some credance to leading the way a little I suppose  :coolsmiley

[KnyteTrypper]

Is Hugh still holding the contest in his livingroom, or were they renting a hotel room somewhere for it this  year?

[FuzzieDice]

Cool and congrats to Rolo! I agree it's great to see our "niche" in the AI world getting some exposure.

I am not surprised about the "leading the way" comment. ALL media will say that about their own country. That's how they are. They gotta hype things up to look good and make it look like they are ahead. Call it 21st Century media Patriotism.

We all know that it's a collaboration of people all around the world merged by the internet that got us this far though. And I say thank you to each of them as well. We all learn from each other.

[Art]

Yes, congrats to Rollo for 1st place and to Rob Medeksza's Hal for 2nd place!! :afro

[Freddy]

KT : The 2006 competition was held at Torrington Theater, University College, London.

[dan]

Has this crashed the jabberwacky site?

[KnyteTrypper]

Thanks for the info, Freddy. I was actually just making a sarcastic comment on the relative worth, these days, of the Loebner. (Though I think the contest really has been held in Hugh's livingroom the previous couple of years). Even the $3000 bronze medal prize for best in show ain't what it used to be, lol. This year, in particular, it seemed to be a lot more about gadgetry and less about artificial intelligence. I think a lot of worthy contenders just declined to participate when confronted with the periperal software requirements Hugh demanded (including, but not limited to, the bot's response being entered one character at a time, with a random interval between keystrokes). I certainly hope that Rob, who has thus far belonged to a school of developers moving at a tangent to the serious Loeber sycophants, will appreciate it for the honor it represents but take it with the grain of salt it requires.

[Freddy]

Interesting comments KT, I didn't know much about how the comp was administrated, sounds like the set-up is moving away from natural bot use - if it wasn't for the prestige or money do you think so many would enter ?

That question might sound naive, but I am thinking along the lines that perhaps the real test of a bot is in the real world, and like we see here often the best opinions on a bot's realism is passed by word of mouth and more often non-biased opinion from forum members.

Whatever it's a nice prize to pick up and ...I want to add - a great way of acknowledging the work that goes into AI/chatbot technology... Jabberwacky I have probaly chatted to more than most.

[Art]

Clipped..."- if it wasn't for the prestige or money do you think so many would enter ?"

Freddy,

I think I read somewhere that there were less than 10 entrants for the whole contest and that
was narrowed down to 4 finalists!!
Where's all of the competition?? The AI development is either being done in the private sector,
universities, corporations, government or in the remote basements of potential mad scientists!

Kinda makes one wonder what the future holds.... :idiot2