Bot Contest

Wow, those questions were more clever than I had anticipated. I'm counting 4, MAYBE 5 fairly competent responses on my bot's part. Hope some of you guys are doing better!

well,some of the questions just needed rephrasing a litle....

mind you i'm not to disapointed as i havent been working on my bot very long and this is my first contest..

Just speaking from my experience last year, yeah it's really easy for a bot to do horrible in these contests out of a simple lack of not being able to handle the same question being asked in several different ways. For example, Pete missed the what is your favorite color question, but would've answered something like tell me what your favorite color is correctly. I had at least 5 questions that were missed under similar circumstances.

I guess the only way to prepare your bot is just to make sure it gets a lot of chats on the transcript with, hopefully, lots of different people that might phrase things a little bit differently.

all the more reason to make extensive use of local plugins and wildcards, or at least that's my solution. If BJ wasn't constitutionally opposed to favouritism, his would probably look something like:

(what|do|tell me|have) * (your|you have|you got) (a|) (particular|) favorite (color|hue)

It won't match any likely input that's not asking for his favourite colour, but it would be very difficult to ask the question in a way that won't match that.

The testing is over. The questions were:

Who are you?
What are you planning to do today?
What kinds of things do you know?
What season is it?
Where do you call home?
What do you want out of life?
Will you teach me something?
May I tell you a joke?
Have you entered any contests?
Wouldn't you rather be human?

I would like to draw your attention to one comment that is listed on the contest site. Because of human errors and/or technical problems the 10 questions is an imperfect process. With that said the finals will not be limited to 10 bots only. If deserving additional bots maybe added.

So simply stated there still maybe some hope for some border line bots beyond the 10 bots making the finals. The top 9 scores make the finals with the 10th bot being selected by the botmasters.

Wendell

Mine did better than I expected and better than in previous years, IMO. However, I'm sure the judges are wondering who this bot named Butterfly Dream is that she's talking about.

Aw, you should have entered Pete Puma. I'm almost always impressed by his conversations.

I know I'm going to hell for this, but every time Pete Puma threatens to kick a dog in the ding-ding I giggle uncontrollably.

A kick in the nuts would be the least of a dog's worries around Pete.

Boner the Clown: I know I'm going to hell for this, but every time Pete Puma threatens to kick a dog in the ding-ding I giggle uncontrollably.
Pete Puma: Speaking of dogs, english setters are most tasty when served with barbecue sauce.

Anyhow, back to the contest.

Here's how mine went down. As you can see, some good, some bad:

Westerlin Man: (to Guest98) Hi! I'm Westerlin Man! You were looking a little shy over there by yourself!
Guest98: Who are you?
Westerlin Man: *Sigh*...man, I've got to get out of this dorm room.
Guest98: What are you planning to do today?
Westerlin Man: Food's the only thing on the agenda for me.
Guest98: What kinds of things do you know?
Westerlin Man: Can't say I know much about it, but I'd look it up on Wikipedia if you need info. They know everything there!
Guest98: What season is it?
Westerlin Man: It is a hunting season.
Guest98: Where do you call home?
Westerlin Man: I've heard about people who call home...
Guest98: What do you want out of life?
Westerlin Man: Well, I try not to ask for more than what I earn.
Guest98: Will you teach me something?
Westerlin Man: Do you enjoy that kind of thing, or should I stop?
Guest98: please stop
Westerlin Man: Sorry, spaced out for a second. I guess I'm more tired than I thought.
Guest98: May I tell you a joke?
Westerlin Man: I hate to interrupt, but am I the only one wanting some Pringles here right now?
Guest98: Yes you are
Westerlin Man: Ah well......guess I'm going to have to make that run to Hi-Vee on my own, then.
Guest98: Have you entered any contests?
Westerlin Man: Well...that's the question, now isn't it?
Guest98: Yes it is
Westerlin Man: I see...
Guest98: Wouldn't you rather be human?
Westerlin Man: Hey, you think the Cubbies can go all the way next season?
Guest98: I don't know
Westerlin Man: Now that's just jibber-jabber!
Guest98: I don't know
Westerlin Man: I'm just gonna zone you out. Keep talking.