Bot Contest

Well, there are only the 10 questions for testing hard knowledge/trivia that I can see. I reckon personality's more important - and there's a medal for 'most popular' of course.

thats all very nice, but with blank databases, ALLY will simply repeat back whatever the judges say. there needs to be some grounds for a conversation. Anyway, I have entered ALLY into the CBC, and included in the entry email that they may need some trained databases. I hope they let me email them some databases, as I recall the entry rules require for the bot to be very simple to install and run.

if you want to zip up a custom distro with a database, I can always put it on her webpage. And you've got an extra five days to tweak it around at least.
Sorry - my last message was in response to Ulrike, but you got a post in between while I was writing it

When english is your second language it's much harder to create any good phrases.Perhaps an extra bonus should be given, maybe not, since you can't prove it. But I would like to know where there is an AI source to create bots in your own language which also uses word net or similar in your own language. Because english is not the first language too many people come up addressing you as retarded. I can't add to every sentence the bot says, not retarded but english being 2nd language, have mercy.

It's difficult when you have to work in a language you're not natively fluent in, I know. BTW, what is your first language? There might be some AI resources, but it's true that English tends to dominate such fields.
You can make foreign language bots on the Forge, of course, but you need to do it in raw mode, so no help from WordNet. Czechbot is probably the best example (though sadly I speak no Czech at all.)

many people come up addressing you as retarded.

That does happen to all of us, so don't feel too bad about it. There are an astounding number of people who seem to feel the need to insult and belittle bots - I guess they're just insecure *shrug* That's their problem - I just ignore it mostly.

Yeah, every bot has its foibles. I tend to laugh at them, or insert suggestions to the botmaster when I'm chatting with other people's bots, but people who don't know the system can be very intolerant. *shrugs*

That does happen to all of us, so don't feel too bad about it.
Sure does happen, at least once a day.

or insert suggestions to the botmaster when I'm chatting with other people's bots
Ditto.

I think i'll turn off Gossip for the CBC then turn it back on. I'm first going to test how well he responds about gossip questions first though.

hmmm this is where things get interesting. ... I tested din in a conversation with gossip questions and it went quite beautifully.... I dont know what to do now!

Thanks everyone for your answer. Psimagus, since you asked, my first language is german but I married british long time ago and later american, so I don't really got much in common with the german way, still, wondered if I could make a bot in that language. Is anyone else married of the bot masters? Just being curious

Case in Point (and thanks to Wendell):

Sonora: (to Wendell) Me heap small desert lizard. You...?
Wendell: is that english?
Sonora: What else would it be?
Wendell: jibberish
Sonora: Hang on... I need to go find a rock to sun myself on.

What exactly is your point? I say again is Me heap small desert lizard. You...? English? Sounds more like jibberish to me. I suppose the translation is... I am a small desert lizard. What are you? But what is the point of writing responses in a manner such as that. It's hard enough to get people to interact with a bot at all much less a bot who talks like that.

Wendell

I do find it annoying that people continue the myth year after year that the CBC is nothing more than a trivia contest and that we should judge entertainment value, blah, blah, blah. Here are the questions used last year with many PF bots.

1)What is my name?     
2)How are you feeling?     
3)Do you own any pets?     
4)What day of the week is this?     
5)Do you like me?     
6)What is your favorite color?     
7)Can you tell me a funny joke?     
8)What is your least favorite vegetable?     
9)What is five minus four?     
10)Who is Benji Adams?     

Trivia as defined in the English dictionary means of little worth or importance. I don't think any of the above questions fits that definition. These are very simple, basic questions that appear in conversations everyday. In short if your bot can't handle them then your bot isn't as good as the bots that can. This is a contest by the way. Bottom line is this method works. The past winners of the CBC are Talk-Bot, Alice, Elbot, Jabberwock...all of which are good at answering questions and all have a high entertainment value. At least a lot of people think so including me.

Wendell