Clive Thompson Turing tests a chatbot. Or tries, anyway.

[randomness]

"So, the last couple of days while I’ve been on IM, I’ve been pinged by “babygurl01475”. I ignored the invitations until I got bored tonight and gave in…" --Clive Thompson

Clive: You know, I can't figure out whether you're a) a chatbot, or b) a human who's working with a pre-set script that is sufficiently rigid that you *appear* to be a chatbot.
bot: no im not a bot are you?
Clive: That's an interesting question!
Clive: How would you be able to tell whether I was one or not?

(Full conversation here)

Comments

[cerebralpaladin.livejournal.com]

That's pretty hilarious. Not quite as good as the description of the 2010 Loebner Prize competition (http://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/10/24/1754216/Chatbot-Suzette-Wins-20th-Annual-Loebner-Prize-Fools-One-Judge) but pretty awesome, especially for something occurring in the "wild".

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

That was excellently absurd, plus I learned something new about the Turing test!

[marginaleye.livejournal.com]

Wait... weren't people doing this kind of thing to Julie the 'bot back on the original TinyMUD in the late '80s/early '90s?

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Sure, but Julie wasn't trying to get you to cough up your credit card info.

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

I suspect that unemployed Chinese college grads will do the job cheaper (per credit card snagged) than any AI that's been written. And they may not steal the numbers outright, it smells like they're selling pr0n.

Gotta get a link to "A Psychiatrist Talks to Eliza"...

[marginaleye.livejournal.com]

I suspect that unemployed Chinese college grads will do the job cheaper (per credit card snagged) than any AI that's been written.

College grads? What about prisoners?

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

Awesome! I'd never think of that.

The 54-year-old, a former prison guard who was jailed for three years in 2004 for "illegally petitioning" the central government about corruption in his hometown,