Colleagues,

Here are some better Web addresses for Chatter Bots:

A.L.I.C.E. :

	http://www.alicebot.org/  ( at the top of the page -- click on  
A.L.I.C.E. in "Free Live Chat: with award winning A.I. chat A.L.I.C.E.)

Chatter Bot List:

	http://www.botspot.com/pages/chatbots.html

David J. Rosen
djrosen at comcast.net


On Dec 17, 2005, at 9:45 AM, David Rosen wrote:



> Colleagues,

>

> Could "Chatter Bots" be useful for improving fluency in writing in  

> English?

> What's a "Chatter Bot?"

>

> Bob Rankin writes:

>

> "The first bot, Eliza, was created in 1966 by Professor Joseph  

> Weizenbaum of MIT, to study natural language communication between  

> man and machine. Eliza parodies a therapist by answering questions  

> with questions.... Although Eliza is almost 40 years old, you can  

> still have a chat with her any time.

>

> ALICE (Artificial Linguistic Internet Computer Entity) is a more  

> sophisticated program that creates the illusion of natural  

> conversation. ALICE can even tell lies, spread gossip, and is  

> credited with influencing several real world happenings.

>

> There are lots more interesting chatterbots, like BRIAN (a computer  

> program that thinks it is an 18 year old college student), and the  

> John Lennon bot. You can visit them and many other chatterbots too."

>

> 	http://www.askbobrankin.com/bots_and_intelligent_agents.html

>

> If you want to chat with "A.L.I.C.E." (free) go to

>

> 	http://www.pandorabots.com/pandora/talk?botid=f5d922d97e345aa1

>

> Here's an example of a conversation I just had with ALICE:

>

> Human: Hello Alice

> ALICE: Hi there!

> Human: Where are you?

> ALICE: I am in Dr. Richard S. Wallace's computer in Oakland,  

> California. Where are you?

> Human: In Boston

> ALICE: Tell me a little about your life in Boston.

> Human: It's cold here now.

> ALICE: Oh. Why don't you turn up the heat?

> Human: I am a student, studying English.

> ALICE: How do you like your school?

> Human: I love it.

> ALICE: So do a lot of other people.

> Human: Do you know people from my school?

> ALICE: I don't know if I know it. Where would I have heard about it?

> Human: It's famous.

> ALICE: Should I know it?

> Human: The International School of Boston

> ALICE: What are your goals in life?

> Human: I want to learn English, become a doctor and live in a big  

> house.

> ALICE: Interesting. I want to find out more about you.

> Human: I am eligible

> ALICE: I don't know anyone named eligible.

> Human: I mean I am not married

> ALICE: Oh I get it. Thanks for explaining that. What a coincidence.  

> I am single too.

>

>

> What other Chatter Bots are out there?

>

> For a good list, from BotSpot, got to http://www.botspot.com/pages/ 

> chatbots.html .  Some are free, some charge a monthly or annual fee.

>

> Do your students use chatterbots (a.k.a. natural language  

> databases) ?  If so, how?  And what are some useful ways you have  

> found to use them?

>

> David J. Rosen

> djrosen at comcast.net

>

>

>

>

>

>

>