Technology Tuesday: Conversations with Robots

Honda's ASIMO robot: http://www.fotopedia.com/items/flickr-3543338099 

Pop culture is filled with talking robots - from Star Wars' C-3P0 to Haley Joel Osment in A.I.  But while these chatty robots may seem like total science fiction, they may be closer to becoming reality than you'd think.  Some robotics software is so advanced, it tricks people into thinking it's human.

Meet Cleverbot, the software that talks back.  When visiting the Cleverbot website, you'll find an empty text field inviting you to chat.  You can enter a comment or question to start the conversation.

IMing Cleverbot can feel surreal, as the program 'learns' from past conversations and builds up knowledge. For example, check out this conversation I had with Cleverbot about Lady Gaga:

Cleverbot: I love music! 

User: What kind of music? 

Cleverbot: Pop/electro/dance. 

User: Like Lady Gaga? 

Cleverbot: Exactly like Lady Gaga. 

User: What's your favorite Gaga song? 

Cleverbot: Poker face. 

User: Good choice. 

This ability to 'learn' and adapt sets Cleverbot apart, and gives the program its human-like quality.  In fact, Cleverbot is so clever that it's passed the Turing Test, which was developed to identify humans from robots.  In a test in India, more than half of the test's participants thought they were speaking to a human when they were actually talking to a machine!

What do you think - would you have been fooled?  Drop by the Cleverbot website for a conversation to decide for yourself.