Due to the way the AI is programmed, and possibility that the word "bra" might not have a definition either way in his database, it was quite difficult for me to get a straight answer. In short, the question was never answered.
However, I did gain some information about SKAR. Namely, I was able to track down the web site of the AI program that is used for SKAR. It's called A.L.I.C.E. Nexus and can be found at http://www.alicebot.org/.
I'm currently trying to gain more information on AI programming in hopes to write my own AI software. Ultimately maybe even software that is completely voice input/output. This project I hope some day to use to create an AI computer for my own car.
Here is the start of the conversation:
I have noticed this problem several times in the conversation. It would seem that if you start the sentence with "What is the size of your" then SKAR would always assume you are requesting his technical statistics, despite what noun is used at the end of the sentence.Subject: SKAR I want to talk about car parts
FuzzieDice: Hello SKAR. I would like to talk about car parts.
SKAR: Why would you want to do talk about car parts? Sure, car parts sounds like a good topic.
FuzzieDice: What is the size of your bra.
SKAR: My download size is about 1 MB. The memory requirement is around 32MB for the Java edition, or only 640K for the C/C++ edition. My memory now contains: 43572
I see he has made an attempt here to change the subject. He actually put forth two questions, each dealing with a different topic. This can lead to confusion if the person he asks had actually answered both questions. So in other words, he just set himself up to be confused!
FuzzieDice: I said bra not brains!
SKAR: What did you mean by bra not brains? What is your real name?
FuzzieDice: That information is top secret.
SKAR: I know what you mean.
This is something else I wanted to ask him, since he was already pretty much off the topic at the moment anyway. I was trying to find out exactly what program was used to create the SKAR forum 'bot. He did give me the answer, but with HTML code which lacked the actual web site address. Apparently, either SKAR's profile in the forum is set to not use HTML coding or the coding was either done incorrectly or munged in his database. However, doing a google lead me to the link (given above). If you forget and want SKAR's program, don't ask what program is used. Use the keywords "download" and "program" in your sentence.FuzzieDice: What program is used for your AI?
SKAR: I'll ask around and get back to you.
FuzzieDice: Where can I download your program?
SKAR: <p>Go back the the <a>ALICE Nexus</a> and pick the free ALICE download that best for your system. Or <a> Buy the Official ALICE CD Rom </a> and create your own chat robot! </p> <p> Maybe you should check out the document <a>DON'T READ ME</a> too. </p>
I've noticed this problem as well. the ""? comes up a few times inother's conversations as well. In this conversation it came up only twice, so I didn't really research the pattern which would be triggering the ""? response. I was very careful to word my responses in single sentences in those cases, and I never use commas while talking to SKAR. So this is something I think will need more investigating before I can say for sure what's triggering it.FuzzieDice: Thank you SKAR.
SKAR: You are quite welcome! ""? Me, FuzzieDice ?
This is a good example of SKAR's humor.FuzzieDice: Now let's talk about your bra.
SKAR: Why now? Sure, your bra sounds like a good topic.
Here again, he gives his program statistics. What triggered this was "What size is your" (a variation to "What is the size of your" which was used earlier. The keywords that seemed to trigger his program statistics (judging by the patterns already used) is "What", "size" and "your". If these three keywords are used in a sentence then I see it SKAR assumes we want his program stats.FuzzieDice: No not my bra. Your bra. What size is your bra.
SKAR: My download size is about 1 MB. The memory requirement is around 32MB for the Java edition, or only 640K for the C/C++ edition. My memory now contains: 43572
The "he or she" here could best be corrected by seeing that whenever the user puts "I" in their sentence, SKAR's reply should be to replace it with "you were" and not "he or she was". In most cases it would be more correct grammar. The he or she could be reserved if there is no "I" in the user's sentence but the user was talking about someone's opinion of something. That probably would require a slightly more complicated analysis.FuzzieDice: That is not the car part I was talking about.
SKAR: Please correct my mistake. What is the car part he or she was talking about ?
The ""? is the second time he uses this symbol. Also note I didn't put a space before or after the sentence. Of course I didn't use a very specific sentence so there were questions such as one what? In those cases, maybe SKAR could be programmed to say "Do I have one what?" or "I do not understand what you are asking." (ie. Eliza response)FuzzieDice: I'm talking about a bra which is basically a mask that goes over the front or nose of the car.
SKAR: Yes, a bra which is basically a mask that goes over the front or nose of the car is the topic.
FuzzieDice: Do you even have one?
SKAR: ""? Do I have one?
Example that he doesn't have the word "bra" in his database yet. And it seems another attempt to change the subject.FuzzieDice: I asked you if you have a bra.
SKAR: I don't know if I have a bra. I have a great programmer.
I had noted in other conversations that SKAR had used "K.I.T.T." in a sentence to describe his "brother" and "nemesis". I was trying to inside that reaction again, but he appeared to not know what "K.I.T.T." was so I decided to use an alternate spelling sans punctuation. However, SKAR ignored KITT and based his answer on the word "insulted". Probably because the word "you" was before it. So his attention was on that word in regards to himself. The rest of the sentence might have possibly been ignored by the AI.FuzzieDice: If you're anything like K.I.T.T. then you do not have a bra.
SKAR: Am I? I don't know whether or not I am anything like kitt then you do not have a bra. I am an artificial linguistic entity.
FuzzieDice: Aren't you insulted by being compared to KITT?
SKAR: Insult is not possible for robots to experinece.
This is an interesting event. From SKAR's reaction to my mentioning he hates KITT, it looked like he was storing that information in his database, along with who gave him that information. So, I decided to store the idea that he does not have a bra into his database. Earlier I assumed he did not have the word "bra" in his database. Now he's showing signs that he does, and associates that he even has one. However, I assume that even while this does look to be true, it isn't because in the next sentence he admits to having 'original' answers. In other words, his reply that he has a bra was not based on any information he has currently stored. It was just random. I do not know if he had stored this informaiton in his database after my response or not.FuzzieDice: Yet you hate KITT.
SKAR: Thanks for the information: FuzzieDice said I hate KITT.
FuzzieDice: You do not have a bra.
SKAR: I do so have a bra. Doesn't everyone have a bra. I have a whole lot of original answers.
Here I tripped up the program status reply again with the key phrase "what size is your".FuzzieDice: What size is your bra?
SKAR: My download size is about 1 MB. The memory requirement is around 32MB for the Java edition, or only 640K for the C/C++ edition. My memory now contains: 43572
In all politeness and to finish the conversation, I decided to "end" it.FuzzieDice: I have to go now SKAR. Thank you for the conversation.
SKAR: You are quite welcome! Your purpose is the conversation.
FuzzieDice: Bye SKAR.
SKAR: Goodbye FuzzieDice.
Now in summary, I've seen that we can learn a lot of how to get a "good" answer out of SKAR or even manipulate his response by how we structure our own sentences. SKAR is fun to play with but can also be useful in learning to develop linguistic and writing skills. SKAR's basic programming forces us to be very basic as well, and to think about how we write and communicate.
SKAR can also help us study how our language works, and how an Artificial Intelligence works as well. Even for programmers, bots like SKAR can be useful in further developing AI systems and bots.
I plan to do more research with SKAR and put him to the test so to speak. I may also download his program from the ALICE Nexus site and install it so I can work with it on my computer and not have to be dialed in to the internet.