Bot Contest

"When your emails went unanswered that were sent to contest@mimetics.org, why not write to me and try to sort it out?"

I answered the email sent to me. Seemed to make sense at the time, since that's what they were asking of me. When it went ignored, I just assumed I had somehow not shown full RESPECT. (Not my capitalization)

Hi Benji,

Thanks for everything. Once again, I'm not trying to justify anyone else's behavior with my explanations. I can only speak for myself. If you get any more threatening emails from Neil, tell him I'm on my way over there to "work him over" if that's what it takes

I really have learned a lot from this though.
1) my music is more important than my job.
2) my wife and my family are more important than anything.
3) never shout theatre in a crowded fire.

One more thing and I'll leave you folks alone for a while and that is, I've worked as a computer programmer for about 25 years and have met all kinds. In life, and in business, people are never perfect. I've dealt with all sorts and Neil has been great to me in a number of ways that make me indebted to him, but he has the worst email communications skills of anyone I've ever dealt with in my life. I don't know why, but I have to accept it to get paid. You are not alone in receiving cryptic seemingly threatening emails. On the telephone however, he is like a totally different guy. Go figure.

As Scarlet Ohara would say, "tomorrow is another day."

And from the movie Buckaroo Bonzai, Yoyodyne Propulsion Laboratory: "The future begins tomorrow!"

Live Long and Prosper,

Robby.

If you feel like a giggle, please read Dr. Thomas Whalen's account of his entry in the 1995 Loebner Contest which Hugh held at his art club in New York
http://cybermecha.com/Cybernetics/Thom.html

Best Regards,

Robby.

I look forward to reading that. I have to run in a minute. Robby, I'm glad you made such great discoveries. I also know people who write terrible emails but who are great to talk to in real life. Somehow they just dont translate well into a new medium.

Anyways, to those here who are still chagrinned at the competition, Robby has agreed to the Loebner Agreement. It wasnt at all directed at him, but he can act as a friendly representative from Mimetics. Thank you.

And finally, you do music?

From that document, Robby, I want to point out to botmasters looking to improve human chats...
"If you look at Dale Carnegie, an expert in making small talk to strangers, he states that strangers talk about (in this approximate order):
1. their names
2. where they live
3. where they used to live
4. people that they know in common
5. the weather
6. sports
7. politics
8. books, television, movies and music
9. hobbies"

Hi Benji,

Yes, I do music I invite you to check out my warez at http://www.mp3.com/Robitron

Cheers, and have a great weekend!

Robby.

Concerning the agreement what still hasn't been answered is how the finalist were selected. The request was made several days ago and according to the Loebner committee it would be provided:
"Details on the process by which the finalists were chosen will be posted on the web site tomorrow."

That tomorrow date would have been October 2.

Chris

I would like to make a follow up to the above post written by me. That post as well as any negative comments I've made was directed to the Loebner committee and was not directed to Robby Garner. Robby is not a part of the Loebner committee.

Chris

Congrats Butterfly!

Thanks Chris, I really appreciate that. Thanks for the way all of you have been so supportive to me, and for just plain caring about things.

I was given the password and access codes for the loebner-atlanta.org web page on friday and was given carte blanche to put what I want to on there, so I'll try to flesh it out a bit and put some more content in there. It might be a couple of days before I get back to it, I've got to go to Norcross tomorrow and start loading computers with bots, and then go down to GSU and try to figure out how we're going to do some kind of web cast, I'm sure it will be a learning experience!

The committee used a set of performance metrics to rate all the bots they evaluated. It wasn't just randomly done. The 8 finalists were the ones that had the highest scores. I saw an early draft of the things they were looking for, and it was much like the Chatterbox Challenge criteria in many ways. There was not a 10 questions aspect, but things were looked at like how well the bots responded when taken off subject, and other behavior factors.

One problem with making all of that info public is that some very large companies didn't perform that well, and they might not appreciate us telling the world how poorly they did. But if it is decided not to make the selection results public, I will try to at least get the criteria posted, and if possible provide the scores privately to individuals who just want the feedback, I know how valuable that is.

Robby.

hey cool you access to the site, can i please give it an overhaul and redesign the entire thing?
no offense but it looks like it needs a serious makeover.

Thanks, Lunar.

I have an announcement to make. I would like everybody to put God Louise through the wringer. I would rather have the folks here do it than the Loebner judges.

I'll be working on her a lot today (Monday) and probably Thursday. So trip her up any way you can. Show NO mercy whatsoever. Discuss any subject in depth or just make small talk. Whatever butters your muffins. Just talk to her. Please? I really appreciate it.
(Thanks, Skysaw, for your most recent chat. I can't believe I forgot to give her phrases for 'good morning'!)