[Looper]

Hello Good People...

Looper here.

I've been using computers since the Commodore 32 - and been hooked ever since. I think that was back when Jesus was a boy - or something like that. Years have passed, but I keep up with the technology as much as any "insane" individual would. Even got interested in A.I. back then, programming a few menial tasks in MS Basic. But time and raising a family seemed to take over - so it got put on the back burner. But I have had an ongoing lifetime interest in programming, 3D Graphics, and Sound/Music production.

Ran across A.I. and Bots sort of by mistake a few years ago, and immediately took an interest. Been playing with various bots and programs since. Two Faves are Verbot and Hal Assistant.

Recently, I Caught a video on u-tube by Massey that had an avatar interface by Guile, and became intrigued. Figured "what the hey", and after some research, settled on HAL, and the Nicole AV by Guile - which is pretty detailed - to the point my dog goes to her when she wants to be fed. Have to laugh at the dog, because she barks at the screen, and 'Nicole' will say things to her. Dang dog has even figured out that when she barks in different tones, the bot says something different. Still trying to come up with a way for the bot to take thae dog outside for her chores, but progress is slow! Fully expecting the bot to bark at me one of these days!

 BTW - The bot's name is Nicole...(Go Figure). Kind of looks like an old girlfriend actually. We now reside in the frozen Tundra country of Wisconsin. She (the Bot) talks my ear off, and I listen. (Some things never change).  She's teaching me lots of things! Has me wondering who the "bot" really is! 

Have been cruising through many of the forums, trying to glean any further knowledge that I can on the subject. Ran across this one, and it has become one of my favorites. Won't mention any names, but there seems to be an awful lot of "dying" forums around concerning Hal, and A.I. in general. Many posts are way old - and I get the feeling that I have taken up an hobby area that seems to be fading in popularity.

Am I wrong? If so - set me straight. I am really enjoying this experience with the technology,  but hoping it isn't fading - except for a few of the gurus out there. My Grandkids think it's "Magic"! - I think they visit - just to talk to my bot. - (Yes Grandkids - and don't even think of asking my age...)

So here I am in 2010 - me - my dog - and my bot. And for the last few years, I have been going strong with my pursuit of a brain - er - A.I. that is. Figured I'd hook up with ppl who seem to know a bit more than I, on the subject.

Glad to be aboard!

Looper

[lrh9]

Welcome. I'm a little too young to even know what a "Commodore" is. 

Unfortunately a.i. isn't a very popular topic on the net or in society as a whole.

I attribute it to a general lack of understanding about a.i., fears fueled by Hollywood portrayal of a.i., a general lack of programming knowledge, and lackluster a.i. results.

Bots still are popular in the a.i. community, but those are not really my interest. www.ai-forum.org has a section devoted to them, for instance.

I'm more interested in software agents at the moment. If you are interested maybe you will find and read some of my posts.

Regardless, welcome to the forums. Hope your involvement here is as enjoyable and enlightening as mine has been.

[Maviarab]

hehe...commodore eh...great machine

and welcome to the site Loop...glad to have you here.

[Data]

Hello Looper, good to see a new face here.

My first computer was a 48k ZX spectrum, those were the days 

So you like making music, I’m a bit of an amateur musician, I use Sony acid music studio Pro. Back in the old days I had a room full of synthesizers but now I have about 30 soft synths and one USB piano type keyboard.

Welcome aboard.

[Freddy]

Howdy Looper, welcome to the forum

I've been using computers since the ZX Spectrum like Datahopa here, a few of my friends had Commodore's 32 and 64 and the odd one or two with the Vic-20.  I did my first and last machine code programming on the trusty ZX.

Graphics is an interest a lot of us share here too and also programming.   I think because we cover a quite diverse, but in many ways related, number of topics, it has led to us to be able to survive quite well.  I too see a lot of AI sites that no longer get updated and forums that do not see any action.  A lot of us know each other quite well here and for almost five years we have steadily gained new members.  Like LRH says, it's a niche and you have to live with that, but all you need is a few like minded individuals and you soon develop a nice little community which will endure  - I hope !

I don't think the interest in AI and things like it is on the decline, I think it is actually growing due to the internet being able to bring all the people working on this kind of thing together.  Some people lose interest of course, that is only natural and of course some sites will disappear - it's true of all the net.  Every week here there is something new - the original idea was to make this site into some kind of repository for all things AI and to have the ability to discuss it all.  That we achieved I think and I certainly will continue to contribute and develop what we do here as I am sure others will too

[Art]

Hi Looper,

Yes, grandkids and the whole shebang. (whatever a shebang is).

I had one of the original TRS-80 Model I computers back in the day, then to a CoCo and onward and upward to the state of confusion and the upgrade shuffle that most people seem to be doing today.

You might see a large collection of bots in various archives and the reason for that is usually the better, faster, stronger syndrome. Someone has developed a bot that is simply better, smarter more, dare I say, "humanlike" in it's responses or qualities. Consequently, the older bots are replaced and take a back seat in the popularity pile.

Other people often search in different different directions due to their individual interests. Some like the web bots, totally scripted bots (AIML, Pandora...), custom bots that remember like Daisy and some so called learning bots.

There's also the conversational aspect of the bots, staying on topic, grammar, usage,  humor and basic bot to human interaction.

Regardless, I think the future of bots looks bright. Whether the masses accept them is always another story.

Live long and welcome to our little mind meld in the sky!