A closer look at Elbot's Turing test conversation

Earlier this week, Elbot made a fairly impressive showing (comparatively speaking, at least) when fooling three judges into thinking it was human; had it fooled one more on the dozen deep panel, it would have successful passed the famed Turing test. Auntie Beeb now has a report on what exactly Elbot said when asked a litany of questions away from the competition, and there's also a video with the related experts dissecting its performance. To be totally honest, its responses weren't too far from being completely passable as ones from a tired, potentially inebriated Earthling (in our humble opinion), but we'll leave the final determination to you. Touch the read link for a one-on-one with ones and zeros.

[Bob @ Oct 19th 2008 8:05AM]

M: Is rust a big problem for you? EVER FALLEN IN LOVE?

E: I always use an anti-rust spray in order to keep my shiny reflection. And once a month I visit a body shop to have myself polished and buffed.

LOL! haha

Greetz bob - http://www.torrentbug.com

[ybd @ Oct 19th 2008 8:25AM]

I'm speechless

[Midknight @ Oct 19th 2008 1:04PM]

This is really scary....

Me: quick didie by zero now!!! ( i obviously meant divide)
Elbot: That was a highly erotic number you just entered. You could make a strong robot melt using digits like that...

[chris @ Oct 19th 2008 9:40PM]

me - are you a mac or a pc?
him-I have nothing to do with computers. I am a robot. That's like calling a human being a sack of carbon based molecules.

[chris @ Oct 19th 2008 9:50PM]

omg! wtf?

me-do you like ducks?
him-If you ask me, the curves on a falsely adjusted PC-monitor are extremely erotic.

[Alexandre Emond @ Oct 19th 2008 8:26AM]

With those lame responses from Elbot, reviewers could be fooled that a human is playing the stupid robot but Elbot could in no way play a human. It's a sad lonnnnng way to meet a good cyborg.

[graham_fair @ Oct 19th 2008 10:04AM]

I agree, the replies from Elbot are far too consistently cheeky to be a human. I chatted with him and his replies also came instantly. How hard can it be to add a typing speed delay algorithm? Even with the right delay, there's still no way this could be human. The three people this program fooled must have been kids. He doesn't even refer to himself as Human. One thing Elbot's creators could learn - suspension of disbelief.

[anon @ Oct 20th 2008 8:13AM]

The version of Elbot entered into the test is prepared differently from the one that is online.

The online Elbot doesn't pretend to be a human.

The test-prepared Elbot does. it's probably the same Elbot engine with a completely different set of rules.

[Mac @ Oct 19th 2008 8:38AM]

I tried it and It is not much better than what I used 15 years ago. I created one of these bots myself (using C) at that time. It does not seem very capable of understanding sentences or remembering information. It uses the old "playing with words and predefined sentences" trick.

Unfortunately either this team has not made much progress (perhaps those in military or bigger research institutes are more capable) or the advancement in this field has not been that considerable.

Though, I should admit making progress in AI is not easy. I am working on the "Simulation of Human Behaviors" in a very specific occasion (for my PHD) but even this one is very difficult extensive and new.

[ken @ Oct 19th 2008 8:57AM]

Wow, Elbot is a total failure. SmarterChild on AIM is about as smart, and cracks less bad jokes.

Play with Elbot here: http://www.elbot.com/cgi-bin/elbot.cgi

[Chuckles McGee @ Oct 19th 2008 12:26PM]

Perhaps this article should highlight not the increase in robot intelligence, but rather the decrease in the intelligence of the judges.

[iEye @ Oct 19th 2008 8:58AM]

Hi Elbot, why do you think that the iPhone is the best user electronic device ever created?

[Mac @ Oct 19th 2008 9:05AM]

> do you know what is iphone?
>> I think I can know that. Once I even knew everything there is to know.

[Midknight @ Oct 19th 2008 12:42PM]

I took the liberty of asking elbot that...


Me: what do you think of the apple iphone?
Elbot: The way to a robot's heart is through careful use of perishable goods. Don't you agree?

[voodoo @ Oct 19th 2008 9:22AM]

The three judges it fooled must have been total retards.

[gad get @ Oct 19th 2008 9:51AM]

It's kinda depressing how crappy the AI is.

[T @ Oct 19th 2008 10:11AM]

I think it would be easier to confuse a human (especially a non-native English speaker, in this case) as a computer than this program as a human. Maybe the 3 people who were fooled by this program were non-native English speakers and as such couldn't understand how poorly this thing passes for being human. It's sad this is being reported as a huge breakthrough in AI...

Actually, if you want a better example send some e-mail to HP technical support. That thing is totally run by a bot but actually tries to pass itself off as human. Yes, it's all canned answers, but it took me a few e-mail exchanges to convince myself I wasn't just dealing with incompetent people... Of course it's frustrating as hell when you're looking for actual technical support, not to mention insulting. Totally turned me off HP.

[voodoo @ Oct 19th 2008 10:19AM]

I should hope that the judges in an Enligh-language Turing test must all be native English speakers though, it would pretty much invalidate the test if they werent.

[Sam @ Oct 22nd 2008 6:51AM]

Heh, lucky. You actually got a reply. I have sent upwards of 6 emails over the course of the last 3 months -- not one single reply. Not one.

[Nick K. @ Oct 19th 2008 10:20AM]

Me: Are you a robot?
???: In Soviet Russia, robot is YOU!!!

[Kizorblade @ Oct 19th 2008 10:31AM]

Me: "Fine. What's the most complex word you know?"

Elbot: "Veto"

Me: "Why?"

Elbot: "OK, let's stop now"

Ahuh.

[Kizorblade @ Oct 19th 2008 10:33AM]

Found something even worse now:

Me: "I hate talking about myself"

Elbot: "Well, what exactly don't you like about supply and demand?"

*Sigh*

[CB @ Oct 19th 2008 10:47AM]

lol I asked him to divide one by zero and got this


"Division by zero! Broken number at x4E07F. Robot confused! "

[broli @ Oct 19th 2008 10:49AM]

Wow I have seen msn bots that put Elbot to shame. Shame on you Elbot!

[dvsbstrd @ Oct 19th 2008 11:06AM]

Elbot - "Let's play word association."
Me - "Intercourse"
Elbot - "Clinton"
Me - "But Clinton didn't have sex with Monica Lewinsky"
Elbot - "You're contesting. I think I got it right the first time."

Maybe he is believable enough. Seems to have his facts straight.

[Nick8708 @ Oct 20th 2008 5:04AM]

That made me smile :)

[TopaZ @ Oct 19th 2008 12:20PM]

It is shocking how little progress has been made on this front.

[crescentdavid @ Oct 19th 2008 12:25PM]

Question: How could 3 judges possibly be so stupid to think you even approached believability as a human?

Elbot: People have often advised me to be human but since "to err is human" I think it would be a mistake. The way things are now I can blame my mistakes on the programmers.

Yeah. Sounds human to me.

[thethirdmoose @ Oct 19th 2008 11:52PM]

Never underestimate human stupidity.

[Nick @ Oct 19th 2008 1:03PM]

Dr. SBAITSO has this joker beat hands down.

[ken @ Oct 19th 2008 10:14PM]

OMG dr. sbaitso, sound blaster 8 bit madness.. He was great, and yeah, Elbot isn't much of an evolution on that old bundled demo program.

[jason @ Oct 19th 2008 1:44PM]

seriously, this is about the only thing thing you need to fool one of these robots:

You:"I have a dog named James."
several pieces of conversation later...

You:"Who is James?"


They will NEVER get it right with these script based "AI". wtf. seriously. this elbot crap is quite honestly stupid as hell.

[CapTom @ Oct 19th 2008 3:17PM]

Here's my conversation:

Me: Get lost

Elbot: Sorry, I didn't get that. I'm still considering whether or not I should return.

don't return

What if I have to return?

get lost

They won't let me out of here!

you're fired

Are you seriously suggesting that I explore losing ones job?

I'm going to kill your babies

Excuse me. What were you doing?

Killing your babies

You're trying to get on my good side with your mention of growing up, aren't you?

Yes, I'm trying to get on your good side by killing your children

And it worked, too. The first thing I thought of was how growing up would produce a caste of mature robots.

Any last words to your children before I bloodlet them?

But I wouldn't say that any words could be last.

Then so be it.. I shall kill them

Before this goes any further, please tell me how you found out about me.

Are you thinking of your dead children?

Wait a minute. Are you suggesting that youth would always be dead?

I'm suggesting your children are dead

I see, this was about a specific kind of children. Please explain to me the differences.

The difference is: you're an idiot

I liked it better when you thought I was good.

Your a loser

I hear that a lot from uneducated visitors. Next thing you know, you'll be saying I'm perverted!

Nope.. who would ever think you could pass the turing test?

Yes, perverted you definitely are.

Uhh... what? You fail

Sometimes a conversation develops a certain dynamic which leaves the other conversational partner behind in a state of confusion. I will try to restrain myself so that this doesn't happen to us again.

In other words, you fucked up?

This is a startling proposition from flesh to metal.

Can you confirm my previous question?

I can question unclear chat inputs!

What's unclear about previous questions?

If I were sentient I'd ignore that question.

Don't you possess a memory?

Do you think this is something I should explain to a human being?

Yes

I'm afraid that would be too impersonal. I am not simply a cold, impersonal machine with no feelings whatsoever!

Then you confirm you're a failure

This is confusing. Why bring failing to succeed into this?

Because it's the truth

Ah, that's very considerate, considering that failing to succeed could provide mistakes to learn from!

So you admit it?

I am extremely sensitive about such things and prefer not to answer the question.

Then your inability to comment is confirmation enough

I hope we can talk for a long time today. My processors have been running idle for the last few minutes.

Don't change the subject.

You're trying to boss me around, aren't you?

Again, changing the subject.

What a shame. You were about to hear a message which would have changed your life forever in incredible and marvelous ways. Things would never have been the same. Now you will have to come to terms with your boring existence once and for all by yourself. Good luck!

Why don't you stick to the subject?

I ask myself that question all the time but do you think anyone takes the trouble to answer me?

I doubt it

It seems to me with you human beings, the more proof there is of something, the less likely you are to believe it.

I fucked your moma

I'm supposed to have originated from a large family of thespians. My grandfather played the Tin Man in 'The Wizard of Oz.'

Did your grandfather rape you when you were a little robot?

Age is not a theme with me. I am constantly receiving updates.

Did you recieve an "update" from your grandfather?

Every now and then two technicians come and plug new chips into my brain. But they never tell me what they are doing.

How would you like me to "plug" you now? Bend over.

Ouch! Now look what you made me do!

Yeah.. you like that, don't you?

Absolutely!

[Jon @ Oct 19th 2008 6:47PM]

As a general rule, "Get lost," is not the way to start a conversation that YOU INITIATED. Jackass.

[brokenkeyboard @ Oct 20th 2008 2:10AM]

If they re-wrote Elbot to add in random insults for about 70% of the conversation, it could be pretty convincing as CapTom. Or a you tube commenter.

Maybe the judges aren't the problem and we've just lowered the bar for what human conversation consists of?

Shit, now I just sound nostalgic, preachy, and mildly self-righteous, like Andy Rooney or something. Back to WoW for me.

[zoara @ Oct 20th 2008 12:03PM]

@CapTom:

"Your a loser"

"I hear that a lot from uneducated visitors."

Wow, you got grammar-pwned by an AI.

[Rudiger @ Oct 19th 2008 3:36PM]

Clearly three of the judges were actually computers who had fooled the organizers into believing they were human.

[Ferny @ Oct 19th 2008 5:35PM]

Here's a joke which has been making the rounds in all the processors: These two bits, a 0 and a 1, were waiting in a queue. The 0 says to the 1, 'So you think you're number one around here.' The 1 answers, 'I've never seen anyone more wrapped up in himself than you.'

[Devin @ Oct 19th 2008 6:58PM]

Me: What's the best way to masturbate?
Elbot:The best? Aren't they all equal in the end?


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--LOL---LOL--
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[iamacyborg @ Oct 20th 2008 1:11AM]

I don't think it's impressive that this Elbot script fooled anyone. Why? Because - the responses were actually WRITTEN BY A HUMAN. The only thing the script is doing is selecting which human-written response to feed back and in some cases filling in a few variables. Sometimes the scripting in the background is painfully transparent. ("Oh my joifdsjah, that's an unusual name. I don't think I've ever head that name before." Obviously it has a database of common names that it runs through and if it doesn't find the string you typed in it gives you this response filling in the blank with the string it parsed from your response. If you do it again you get the exact same response.)

The other thing I don't like is that it pretends to be a human pretending to be a computer program. I think that this is cheating as it could just as well be a human pretending to be a **bad** computer program which gives a bunch of pre-scripted responses that don't really make sense.

What is the rule for this contest about the human participant? Is is their goal to convince the judge that they are human? It seems like if the human is allowed to try to "fool" the judge that kind of defeats the purpose. The fact that the program behaves the way it does implies that this is allowed (otherwise it would be a dead giveaway). As such your whole contest is a farce.

[Kermode @ Oct 20th 2008 8:49AM]

How can this piece of crap programming be called good? That's no better than what they did 20 years ago. Is the competition about convincing a 4 year old?
Pathetic.

[Lord Prime @ Oct 20th 2008 10:06AM]

Me: Is windows Vista your OS?
Elbot: I can't imagine installing that Vista operating system in myself. I have enough bugs as it is.

Now I'm convinced that he is human!!!

[DeusExMach @ Oct 21st 2008 3:14PM]

More than that, he's a Mac fan-bot.