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Name:
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Fred Roberts
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Age:
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39
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Sex:
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Male
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Town:
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Hamburg
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Country:
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Germany
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E-mail:
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roberts@kiwilogic.com
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Chatterbots
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Elbot
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What gave you the idea of developing a bot?
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The want ad offering money for it was a compelling incentive.
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Is creating bots a passion for you? A hobby?
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It has become a hobby, because it is still, to some extent, a pioneering field.
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When did you start creating bots? Why?
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I began working for Kiwilogic in
the year 2000, creating bots on a professional basis. Although I had
seen Eliza before, I never though about getting into such a field
myself, or even imagined there was a field to get into.
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What language is your bot programmed in?
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Elbot has been developed using
Kiwilogic's Lingubot Creator, commercial software used to develop bots.
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How much time do you spend working on your bot per week/month/year?
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At
the moment Elbot receives a couple of hours of care per week. In his
hey-day he commanded my full-time attention.
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In your opinion, what are the best qualities of your bot?
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Some of
Elbot's answers fit just about any input, so unless you've spoken to him
a few times, at least the first chats will be entertaining.
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What is your ultimate goal for your bot?
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I hope that some day they will
build a life-size Elbot, implant the bot in his brain, and let him walk
around and talk to people while I update him vie satellite. If not that,
then at least the Loebner prize.
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How do you see chatterbots being used in the future?
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See last question:
Talking robots with speech recognition and the ability to learn via
artificial intelligence or wireless updates.
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Can chatterbots replace humans?
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Not with the current technology. For the
future, Rod Serling's "The Lonely" may provide an answer.
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What is your favorite bot memory?
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My favorite memories are the hilarious
misunderstandings, answers which unintentionally but profoundly fit:
User: Can you explain how it feels to be 18 years old?
Elbot: I have 100,000 separate sensations per second.
User: That explains it.
(Elbot recognized "Can you feel")
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What was your worst bot moment?
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The worst bot moment: When Elbot fails
to recognize a meaningful user input. Or when Elbot recognize a friendly
input as an insult, and spoils a friendly chat by reacting with an
insult of his own.
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