The Lemming Meets Cleverbot

Cleverbot

"...PLEASE NOTE: Cleverbot learns from real people - things it says may seem inappropriate - use with discretion, and at YOUR OWN RISK...."

"...PARENTAL ADVICE: Visitors never talk to a human, however convincing it is - the AI knows many topics - use ONLY WITH OVERSIGHT...."

Cleverbot is an intriguing artificial intelligence that can converse with people. Here's how the Lemming's dialog with Cleverbot went:

"User: Okay, so what is Cleverbot, and what does it do?

"Cleverbot: I don't really know.

"User: Right. I suppose self-awareness is a bit much to ask at this stage.

"Cleverbot: So you don't know who aleister crowley is?

"User: I don't know aleister crowley, but I know who he is. That was a non sequitur.

"Cleverbot: So you are using me?

"User: In one sense of the word, yes.

"Cleverbot: So your christian?

"User: With a capital 'C,' yes.

"Cleverbot: Why a capital y?

"User: That's the conventional spelling. It has to do with proper names.

"Cleverbot: Really?

"User: Really.

"Cleverbot: Ookaayy.

"User: Goodbye.

"Cleverbot: Adios."

In the Lemming's opinion, it's going to be a long time before we see something like the robots and sentient computers of science fiction. HAL 9000 or C3PO, Cleverbot is not.

On the other hand, the Lemming has had conversations with real human beings that that made about as much sense. And that's another topic.

Slightly-related posts:

• "Driverless Cars: Keep an Eye on Nevada"
  (June 24, 2011)
• "Meet Fenway the Robot, Hospital Helper"
  (September 21, 2010)
• "HAL 9000, Skynet, and C3PO"
  Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space (January 26, 2010)
• "CAPTCHA Gotcha? You're not the Only One"
  (March 3, 2008)
• "Robot Tricks Humans Into Reading Captchas"
  (February 19, 2008)