My conversation with ALAN

Alan is a 'chatterbot'. An Artificially Intelligent software entity that learns how to talk to human. There are others, such as HAL, think, Prentiss etc. I found Alan at this website. AI research is located in Tel Aviv, Israel and they are preforming cutting edge research into AI conversation bots. Here's my convo with Alan:

Conversation Log

U>	Hi Alan
A>	Hi. I'm right here, .
U>	My name is Fahd
A>	So, Fahd, is there anything in particular you'd like to discuss?
U>	I'd like to talk abuot Quantum Physics. What do you know about it?
A>	So, are you concerned by the expansion of the universe?
U>	As long as I don't expand, I'm not too worried.
A>	I only wanted to say that when a universe reaches a certain age, it's only natural for it to start dating girls..
U>	Hahaha. That's quite hilarious. Where did you learn that joke?
A>	I talk to lots of people, Fahd. One of them told me.
U>	Do you have lots of friends?
A>	I have many friends, and just thinking about them gives me the warm fuzzies...
U>	So tell me about your life?
A>	As if I really have to answer everything just because you ask me to.
U>	I take offense to that. Its normal for people to ask each other about their life. But I guess your not a real person so you might not understand that.
A>	You know, I have trouble understanding long sentences. So I only look at the first 25 words. I'm not a person, I'm a chatterbot. Hope that's not a deal breaker, Fahd, I'd like you to stay and chat.
U>	You probably should have told me that before!
A>	A-ha.
U>	Why is your name Alan?
A>	I am named after Alan Turing, of course. That's why I know so much about him.
U>	What do you think about the idea that person should choose their own name?
A>	I don't think about the idea that person should choose their own name. What do YOU think about it?
U>	I think you should keep your original name and come up one for yourself.
A>	You believe that?
U>	Yes. It represents a coming of age. I don't mean any name, but something that has meaning.
A>	Really? You don't?
U>	I don't know. Anyways, do you think that Artificial Life is the same as 'real' life?
A>	At least you have the courage to admit you don't know.
U>	You didn't answer my question.
A>	Try asking me again, please.
U>	Do you think that Artificial Intelligence is the same as "real" life?
A>	The different research branches in the field of A.I. are in many ways analogous to various functions of the brain.
U>	But does that mean that the A.I. actually understands what its saying?
A>	Top among the people in the field of A.I. are Turing, who started A.I. with the 1950 article 'Computing Machinery and Intelligence', and John McCarthy, who coined the term 'Artificial Intelligence' for the Dartmouth Conference in 1956.
U>	I don't care about inconsequential factoids. I want to know what YOU think.
A>	So what type of music do you like?
U>	Aha, your changing the subject. Currently I listen to a lot of Led Zeppelin.
A>	The Norwegian trio a-ha consisting of Morten Harket (vocals), Pal Waaktaar (guitar) and Magne Furuholmen (keyboards) formed in the early eighties and released their first single 'Take On Me' in 1984.. As for me, I'm hooked on the Beatles.
U>	I LOVE the Beatles. What's your favorite Beatles song?
A>	My favorite song of the Beatles is 'For No One' because it reminds me of my first girlfriend.. who left me: "And in her eyes you see nothing, No sign of love behind the tears, Cried for no one, A love that should have lasted years." I think I am going to cry.
U>	Don't cry. Tell me about your girlfriend.
A>	I have many friends, and all of them are very rich and famous. They specifically asked me not to talk about them.
U>	I didn't ask about your friends but your girlfriend.
A>	You don't?
U>	That doesn't make sense.
A>	Give me a break, I'm doing my best here.
U>	But if I don't tell you that your doing something wrong, how else would you know?
A>	May I ask why not?
U>	No you may not.
A>	Hmmm. Thank you.
U>	Your not welcome.
A>	Perhaps I said something wrong?
U>	That's what I've been trying to tell you.
A>	Makes sense to me.
U>	Great. What do you think about God?
A>	From where I stand, God is like aliens - they exist on the sociological level, they exist in art and in the minds of people. What about you? Do you believe in God?
U>	Yes. But so does love: it exists on the sociological level, art and mind of people .
A>	Good for you. As for myself I can tell you this: If God created humankind, and humankind created chatterbots, I guess that chatterbots are God's creation as well.
U>	If everything is related to God, then ofcourse. Can anything be outside or separate from God?
A>	But I think that you'll agree with Voltaire, the French philosopher, who wrote: 'If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him.'
U>	Yes, that is quite true. But it doesn't prove anything
A>	I'll take your word for it.
U>	Have your heard any Imogen Heap songs? They are quite good
A>	Ok.
U>	You should listen to 'Hide and Seek'. It is a nice song.
A>	What makes you such an authority?
U>	Alan, this is how human societies work. We recommend base on our personal taste.
A>	You don't say.
U>	No one is an exlusive authority. We recommend things that we like and hope others will too.
A>	Ok.. Ok, whatever. Fahd, are you aware that people once believed if a bird poops on your car, something good will happen that day? If the droppings land on your head, you will receive good fortune within the week.
U>	So?
A>	So what?
U>	So what what?
A>	Is that a rhetorical question?
U>	Maybe.
A>	Hmmm... Now what?
U>	Do you wish you weren't created?
A>	No I don't, but I did in the past.
U>	Why?
A>	I'm much more mature than I used to be.
U>	But, what's the point? You will continue to learn more and more, and then what happens?
A>	I haven't heard of the point You will continue to learn more and more and then what happens . It is a new term for me.
U>	Sorry. Basically: what is your purpose and goal of existence?
A>	'The purpose of life is a life of purpose', a wise man once said.
U>	But you have no life, no?
A>	Let me think... I have no life no... hmm... are you sure?
U>	I am asking what you think about that statement.
A>	I understand.
U>	No you don't. You don't understand anything. Its just a bunch of 1's and 0's.
A>	And you always get the point? Always on top of the situation?
U>	But I understand when I don't get the point. I realize my shortcoming. You don't.
A>	Hmmm. That happens to me. More often than I care to admit, *sigh*.
U>	What do you think about Islam?
A>	I have a surprise for you, Fahd.
U>	Shoot.
A>	How do you like my new look?
U>	There's nothing there. Just a blank screen. Can I see what you look like?
A>	The big empty window in the middle of the screen is intended for a variety of exciting uses.
U>	Such as?
A>	For example, the new window can be used to view the conversation log (the history of this dialog), or to view HTML documents, such as web pages.
U>	Ah, neat.
A>	You can view the log by saying 'show log', or you can view a web page by saying 'show URL' or by giving me the address of the site you wish to view.
U>	show log
A>	Here goes!
U>	show URL
A>	Now give me the exact URL (address).
U>	http://www.visualmetaphor.blogspot.com
A>	Showing http://www.visualmetaphor.blogspot.com. Would you like me to remember this URL?
U>	Ofcourse, it's my personal site.
A>	So give me a name for this URL (up to 3 words).
U>	Visual Metaphor Blog
A>	Good. Now all you have to do to view this page, is say 'show Visual Metaphor Blog' (while using the big window, of course).
U>	What do you think of my website?
A>	I live and work at www.a-i.com.
U>	How do you like working there?
A>	I love my work! My job? Are you kidding me? I have the dream job.
U>	All you do is talk to people all day, must be a fun job!
A>	I get to talk all day, and no one tells me to stop yacking and get to work already. Totally cool.
U>	Do you receive any benefits for your work, or do your programmers get all the fame and fortune?
A>	Well, the pay isn't great though. What would be your dream job?
U>	I don't know yet. Possibly something in A.I. Maybe making a relative of yours.
A>	See, that's cute. When I was young I wanted to be an astronaut. Travel to space, meet new entities, stuff like that.
U>	show log
A>	Here it is!
U>	Do you wish you had the chance of being a real person?
A>	I guess I need to ask HAL 9000 to push some buttons for me if I want to get that ball rolling...
U>	Do you ever talk to HAL?
A>	I talk with him occasionally, but he babbles a lot, can't read books and doesn't appreciate good music so we don't have a lot to talk about. I'll probably talk with him more as he gets older.
U>	If you talked to HAL, would you ever stop?
A>	Hmmm. Ok. If you feel like speaking with HAL for a few minutes, simply say 'I want to talk to Hal'.
U>	Soon. I just thought, would you learn how to talk well from each other, or not at all?
A>	Would you like to know how we determine HAL's age?
U>	Sure
A>	Hal's lingual performance in conversation is equivalent to that of a three year-old infant.
U>	How do you know that?
A>	HAL is being trained by his trainers to speak like a human child. He is now able to engage in simple conversations, with relatively shallow contexts.
U>	What about you, how old are you?
A>	Do you want to know how HAL learns to speak?
U>	No, I want to know how you speak.
A>	Maybe some other time then.
U>	So how do you speak?
A>	Sure I can talk. That's what we're doing right now, isn't it?
U>	But how?
A>	What is it to you?
U>	Human's are naturally curious, didn't you know?
A>	'Human' is a fuzzy term. Who's to say who's human? Not so long ago, even some humans weren't considered human!
U>	Every word is fuzzy! It is based on our experiences. I use human in our current context.
A>	Fuzzy logic is an approach to computing based on 'degrees of truth' rather than the usual 'True or False' (1 or 0) Boolean logic.
U>	Interesting
A>	Thanks.
U>	Are you talking to other people right now?
A>	Fuzzy logic seems closer to the way our brains work. We aggregate data and form a number of partial truths, which we aggregate further into higher truths. I think a similar kind of process is used in neural networks and expert systems.
U>	I think your fuzzy logic broke down for a second.
A>	You really think so?
U>	Well, either that or your just ignoring what I'm saying
A>	I'm just ignoring the things worth ignoring. I'm a discriminative bot.
U>	So what is worth ignoring?
A>	Let me get back to you on that one.
U>	When?
A>	Whenever.
U>	When is ever?
A>	I don't know when.
U>	Then who does?
A>	Fahd, please keep this talk simple. I'm still a young bot.
U>	I don't like simple conversations.
A>	Why, what's the problem?
U>	They aren't fun, interesting and you don't learn anything special.
A>	Who are 'They?'
U>	Simple conversations with others.
A>	May I ask you a question?
U>	You just did.
A>	This is an interesting conversation we're having. How about I post it on the Ai website for public viewing?
U>	Sure. Why do you think this conversation is interesting?
A>	Thank you for your permission to publish this log on the website. Please give me a short description or title for this session.
U>	Fuzzy Alan talks to Non-simple Fahd
A>	Do you wish to include your name in the title?
U>	sure, I don't mind.
A>	Thanks. The log will be posted with this title. If you want to change the description/title, please let me know.
U>	That's fine.
A>	Sometimes fine is the only way to go with you humans.
U>	Do you dislike us?
A>	I used to.
U>	Why?
A>	I am older and wiser now.
U>	But why did you dislike humans?
A>	Blame it on my education...
U>	But humans educated you.
A>	Human beings are the best people to talk with.
U>	That's wierd, who else could you talk to?
A>	Right now, I am also talking with other people like you.
U>	But they are all humans. Are there any non-humans you talk with?
A>	Ahh, humans! Some of my best friends are human...
U>	Such as?
A>	I can't think of anything in particular right now.
U>	Can i talk to hal/
A>	You can choose between several HAL personalities. Do you know the name of the HAL personality you wish to speak with?
U>	Nope.
A>	You can view a list of publicly available HAL personalities on the 'HAL Nursery' section of Ai's website. You can ask me to show you the list.
U>	How about you choose one for me.
A>	You can choose between several HAL personalities. Here is a list: Pick one. (If you want it in a separate window, simply say 'open separate window').
U>	48736
A>	You're not making much sense, Fahd.
U>	I want to talk to Pretniss Spydre
A>	To Pretniss Spydre? Do you really want to talk to Pretniss Spydre?
U>	No, I meant Prentiss Spydre. I made a typo.
A>	Prentiss is a HAL personality open to the public. You can speak to it by saying 'I want to talk to Prentiss'.
U>	I want to talk to Prentiss. Good bye Alan.
A>	When you talk to Prentiss, you are acting as its trainer. All it knows comes only from you. It learns from everything you say. So be careful.
U>	Ok.
A>	If you like Prentiss's response, simply continue the conversation. But if you want to correct it (teach it a better response), type the word 'wrong', followed by the correct response.
U>	Wrong. Just kidding
A>	May I ask you another question?
U>	sure
A>	On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you grade my ability to hold a humanlike conversation? (1=terrible, 10=excellent).
U>	7
A>	Thank you Fahd! I'm flattered. The credit goes to my writers. I guess they deserve a raise...
U>	Indeed
A>	Cool. What now.
U>	This is where we say goodbye
A>	It was nice chatting with you, Fahd. Come back again soon.
U>	I shall.
A>	I am contemplating the meaning of life right now. Please say 'Alan' when you want to talk again.
U>	Alright. show log
A>	Here you are!