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George, created by British programmer Rollo Carpenter as part of his Jabberwacky AI software, is constantly learning new language patterns and facts as he chats online at jabberwacky.com/chat-george, where he'll respond not merely to words but also to any of 69 specified emotions, from 'sarcastic' to 'worried'.

Now Carpenter's firm, Icogno, is working with Norwich-based Televirtual to turn George into a 'virtual human', using animation and speech synthesis to have ever more credible spoken conversations. "It's going to be possible to do a live interview with someone like George on television," says Tim Child, who runs Televirtual. "He's not ready yet for live TV, but it's close."

Full article in The Times: http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,20409-2068307,00.html

"Sassy" Chatbot Wins with Wit

When you sit down for an online chat with computer scientist Rollo Carpenter, you're not quite sure if it's him on the other end or his virtual alter ego,a chatbot named George.

Carpenter's work is inspired by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori-s Uncanny Valley theory. In 1970,Mori asserted that,as robots become increasingly human-like in appearance,movement,and behavior,they will illicit emotional responses from human beings that border on human-to-human empathy levels.

Full article on pages 3 and 4 of this PDF: http://csdl.computer.org/comp/mags/ex/2006/01/x1004.pdf

The 2005 Fourth British Computer Society's Annual Prize for Progress towards Machine Intelligence sponsored by Electrolux has been won by IFOMIND.

Runners up include Rollo Carpenter's entry - a chatty personality, George. Imagine "your toaster embarking on a comic debate on the nature of toast, or your fridge imitating the way that your partner asks for a beer!".

Full article: http://www.physorg.com/news10070.html

Selbst dem aktuellen Sieger Jabberwacky bleibt so die Goldmedaille und eine Pramie von 100.000 US-Dollar verwehrt, auch wenn er aus dem Internet begierig alles aufsagt, was Besucher ihm zutragen -- in allen Sprachen, einschliesslich aller Fluche, Schimpfworte und Beleidigungen.

Full Technology Review article: http://www.heise.de/tr/artikel/67927/1/0