Oct 13 2008 Robot Trickery: Trying To Write Like People

Scientists are running tests in Berkshire to determine if robots can "think" well enough to trick humans into believing they're humans themselves.

Scientists at the University of Reading tested five machines to see if they could pass themselves off as humans in text-based conversations with people.

The test was devised in 1950 by British Mathematician Alan Turing, who said that if a machine was indistinguishable from a human, then it was "thinking".

One robot, Elbot, came close on Sunday by reaching 5% below the pass mark.

No robot has ever passed the Turing Test, which requires the robot to fool 30% of its human interrogators.

Wow, people can actually communicate with a robot and think it's a human? That's freaking pathetic. And on a side note, who the hell is this MovieFone character on my AIM buddy list and how is he always available? He must never sleep!

Test explores if robots can think [bbcnews] (with video)

Thanks to Mike, Wayne, and Uncle Ecolli, who all agree that not only are robots stupid, but they make horrible sexual partners.

Mar 18 2008 ICQ P2P Toothpaste Is Highly Questionable

An Israeli pharmaceutical company is releasing ICQ toothpaste that'll ""help P2P communication (person to person) while reducing bad breath." Awesome. I'm going bald, so I really hope they come out with a hair balm for S2E (self to esteem) communication too. You know, it seems like only yesterday I met my first girlfriend on ICQ. I would always race home to the computer to chat with her after I got out of school. It got pretty serious and we finally we decided to meet one day. And yes, you guessed it -- it was my best friend's dad trolling for boys. He broke up with me a few weeks later.

ICQ, the Toothpaste [gizmodo]

Thanks to Steve, who has shining white teeth and pleasant-smelling breath, for the tip