Turing never imagined his value as a prankster
Putting
the Turing test to work:
Wired News: Beware of Bots Bearing MessagesIf you get an instant message from someone with an unfamiliar screen name in the near future, you might want to think twice before getting emotionally invested in the conversation.
That's because you may be talking with Chatting AIM Bot, a free service that lets anyone play a devious practical joke on a friend, in which an artificially intelligent AOL instant message, or AIM, bot carries on an innocuous, 10-minute conversation before finally lowering the boom and informing the unwitting human at the other end they've been had.
Kinda similar to the
Virtual Girlfriend, but with a spoiler.
Remember that mock therapist program for the Mac from around 1994, "Elise" I think it was called... very similar, except that Elise actually worked, somewhat, by asking questions based on keywords from your previous answer. And if you cussed, it'd answer, "No need to be rude." I remember the most peculiar part of Elise--if that's what it was called--was ending the "session." You'd just get bored and quit. Imagine what a paid therapist would think if you up and left once the questions started to sound stupid.
* Ray, 9/11/2004 02:45:45 AM
