The Maverick's Mind-Space

After watching I, Robot, I wanted to know how it felt to have a chat with something with artificial intelligence. With so many expectations, I downloaded CHAT BOTS ranging from the classic Eliza to the not-so-famous Billy and Ultra-HAL. It was after a chat with all three of them did I realise that A.I. was nothing compared to the human brain. All three sounded stupid after a few minutes of conversation. Eliza irritated me with monotony. Ultra-HAL, though somewhat smart, became repetitive after a minute. But Billy was one little bot that amused me. Though it forgets that there's something called Grammar, I enjoyed the conversation I had with Billy, simply for its unintended humor.

The following is a transcript of my converstion with Billy:
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### BILLY 4.1: Transcript of September 23, 2005 at 12:39
### Bot BILLY talking to ABINAND
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BILLY> what is your name?
USER> abinand
BILLY> have i talked to you before?
USER> no
BILLY> where do you live? :)
ABINAND> india
BILLY> what's your favorite sport?
ABINAND> badminton
BILLY> what's your favorite book?
ABINAND> angels and demons.
BILLY> what's your favorite movie?
ABINAND> The Matrix.
BILLY> actually, my girlfriend has the matrix.
ABINAND> does she have the DVD?
BILLY> the matrix.
ABINAND> yeah. Thats what.
BILLY> does she have not dvd!
ABINAND> does she have the CD then?
BILLY> does she have not cd then,
ABINAND> what does she have then?
BILLY>
ABINAND> what does she have?
BILLY>
ABINAND> okay. Never mind.
BILLY> angels and demons.
ABINAND> that is my favorite book.
BILLY> when i was younger, i had your favorite.
ABINAND> but the book was released only a few years back.
BILLY> is your book broken?
ABINAND> no. It is torn.
BILLY> can you just be positive once. abinand? :)
ABINAND> okay..okay..It is brand new.
BILLY> hehe! must be abinand not book learning. :(
ABINAND> yeah. that is why it is brand new.
ABINAND> It was nice talking to you. Bye.
BILLY> leaving already? ok bye..