Author Topic: Talking with a Bot or a Human? (Read 568 times)

Matthew · « **on:** March 15, 2010, 10:42:57 AM »

A good Turing test...

I tried to close a webpage today, that said, "Wait! Hit cancel on the next dialog box to speak with one of our agents!"

I knew it would be a bot, and wanted to test it, so I clicked Cancel.

First I asked, "What is three plus four?"

It responded, "Well, let me see... 7 :)"

I decided to be a bit less basic, so I asked,

"What happened on the eleventh of s-e-p-t back in 01?"

It responded,
"Act now and get 20% off your order for a limited time..."

OWNED!

Computers are so stupid, it isn't difficult to outsmart them. They are irrational, not possessing an immortal soul with reason, so rational beings will always be above them.

To prove it, a ten year old girl could have answered my question correctly -- but not a computer with 500 billion operations per second.

Matthew

Matthew · « **Reply #1 on:** March 15, 2010, 10:46:01 AM »

Being a programmer, I know PRECISELY what a computer can and can't do. I know its limitations, since I have to deal with them in my own programs.

I know what's elementary to program, what CAN be programmed with enough time & money, and what is impossible.

Anyhow, if you ever want to figure out if you're chatting with a bot or a human, you might want to try out something like I did. It's fun (can you tell?)

Matthew

Lybus · « **Reply #2 on:** March 15, 2010, 06:36:19 PM »

making obscure words like s-e-p-t that a human would get but not a computer?

Matthew · « **Reply #3 on:** March 15, 2010, 11:25:17 PM »

Quote from: Lybus

making obscure words like s-e-p-t that a human would get but not a computer?

That, and I'm sure every famous event hasn't been programmed into the script. If you ask what happened on Dec 7th it probably wouldn't know either.

What sees its shadow on February 2? might work, though if I was writing a script I'd parse the input for dates, and if I found "Feb 2" I'd say something about Groundhog's day. Feb 14 - Valentines day, etc. That would be a bit too easy.

But "Who was our last President" is less likely to be in there.
Saying "Who was our last prez" is even better, since it's slang that every human understands, but it would take "one more step" for the program to be that advanced. Chances are, they stopped before they got to that point (diminishing returns).

Matthew

Lybus · « **Reply #4 on:** March 16, 2010, 01:19:53 PM »

isn't there some law against literally lying to customers? If you don't have an agent actually talking, then you shouldn't be able to say that you do.