When he's not busy enhancing Daybook Enterprise's web capability, Rollo Carpenter likes nothing better than an entertaining chat. Now his Jabberwacky chatbot has come second in a worldwide artificial intelligence competition, and been featured in The Guardian, The Independent and on BBC Online

Jabberwacky began life some twenty years ago on a Sinclair computer, and since then has been a labour of love. It was one of four systems to be selected for entry for the prestigious Loebner Prize competition to find a computer that communicates likes a human being and which took place in New York in September.

Some people become hooked and chat with the machine online for hours on end. To find out whether you fall into that category, visit www.jabberwacky.com. As you talk to it Jabberwacky learns from the things you say, so its conversation gradually gets more and more sophisticated.

The Prize is based on the dictum of the father of computing Alan Turing that a machine could be held to be intelligent if it responded to conversation like a human being. In the event Rollo came second to a program called Alice, one that is sensible but more limited in scope. Having come joint third last year, he thinks that the trend is in the right direction, giving him high hopes for next year. We asked Jabberwacky for its thoughts:



Will you win the Loebner Prize next year?
I will win this year and next.
But you didn't win this year!
I will win next time.
You have confidence.
Do you?


Talk Time: Rollo Carpenter - The Guardian
Say hello to Jabberwacky, our best 'human' computer - The Independent
BBC News article on the Loebner results