Artificial Linguistic Internet Computer Entity
Encyclopedia
A.L.I.C.E., also referred to as Alicebot, or simply Alice, is a natural language processing
chatterbot
—a program that engages in a conversation with a human by applying some heuristical pattern matching rules to the human's input, and in its online form it also relies on a hidden third person. It was inspired by Joseph Weizenbaum
's classical ELIZA
program. It is one of the strongest programs of its type and has won the Loebner Prize
, awarded to accomplished humanoid, talking robots, three times (in 2000, 2001 and 2004). However, the program is unable to pass the Turing test
, as even the casual user will often expose its mechanistic aspects in short conversations.
began development of the program in 1995, while at Lehigh University. The name of the bot was chosen because the computer that ran the first version of the software was called Alice.
The program was rewritten in Java
beginning in 1998. The current incarnation of the Java implementation is Program D. The program uses an XML Schema called AIML
(Artificial Intelligence Markup Language) for specifying the heuristic conversation rules.
Subsequent to Richard Wallace's 2001 publication of an AIML specification, numerous other developers have taken up where Wallace left off, implementing free and open source
AIML interpreters in a variety of programming languages, publishing AIML sets in various human languages, and continuing the spread of the technology as a free/open source venture.
Natural language processing
Natural language processing is a field of computer science and linguistics concerned with the interactions between computers and human languages; it began as a branch of artificial intelligence....
chatterbot
Chatterbot
A chatter robot, chatterbot, chatbot, or chat bot is a computer program designed to simulate an intelligent conversation with one or more human users via auditory or textual methods, primarily for engaging in small talk. The primary aim of such simulation has been to fool the user into thinking...
—a program that engages in a conversation with a human by applying some heuristical pattern matching rules to the human's input, and in its online form it also relies on a hidden third person. It was inspired by Joseph Weizenbaum
Joseph Weizenbaum
Joseph Weizenbaum was a German-American author and professor emeritus of computer science at MIT.-Life and career:...
's classical ELIZA
ELIZA
ELIZA is a computer program and an early example of primitive natural language processing. ELIZA operated by processing users' responses to scripts, the most famous of which was DOCTOR, a simulation of a Rogerian psychotherapist. Using almost no information about human thought or emotion, DOCTOR...
program. It is one of the strongest programs of its type and has won the Loebner Prize
Loebner prize
The Loebner Prize is an annual competition in artificial intelligence that awards prizes to the chatterbot considered by the judges to be the most human-like. The format of the competition is that of a standard Turing test. In each round, a human judge simultaneously holds textual conversations...
, awarded to accomplished humanoid, talking robots, three times (in 2000, 2001 and 2004). However, the program is unable to pass the Turing test
Turing test
The Turing test is a test of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour. In Turing's original illustrative example, a human judge engages in a natural language conversation with a human and a machine designed to generate performance indistinguishable from that of a human being. All...
, as even the casual user will often expose its mechanistic aspects in short conversations.
Development
Richard WallaceRichard Wallace (scientist)
Richard Wallace is the author of AIML and Botmaster of ALICE . Dr. Wallace's work has appeared in the New York Times, WIRED, CNN, ZDTV and in numerous foreign language publications across Asia, Latin America and Europe.Richard Wallace was born in Portland, Maine in 1960. He earned his Ph.D...
began development of the program in 1995, while at Lehigh University. The name of the bot was chosen because the computer that ran the first version of the software was called Alice.
The program was rewritten in Java
Java (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
beginning in 1998. The current incarnation of the Java implementation is Program D. The program uses an XML Schema called AIML
AIML
AIML, or Artificial Intelligence Markup Language, is an XML dialect for creating natural language software agents.- Background :The XML dialect called AIML was developed by Richard Wallace and a worldwide free software community between the years of 1995 and 2002...
(Artificial Intelligence Markup Language) for specifying the heuristic conversation rules.
Subsequent to Richard Wallace's 2001 publication of an AIML specification, numerous other developers have taken up where Wallace left off, implementing free and open source
Free and open source software
Free and open-source software or free/libre/open-source software is software that is liberally licensed to grant users the right to use, study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code...
AIML interpreters in a variety of programming languages, publishing AIML sets in various human languages, and continuing the spread of the technology as a free/open source venture.
Further reading
- Clive Thompson: Approximating Life, The New York Times Magazine, July 7, 2002
- Chat between A.L.I.C.E and the chat bot Jabberwacky in DiscoverDiscover (magazine)Discover is an American science magazine that publishes articles about science for a general audience. The monthly magazine was launched in October 1980 by Time Inc. It was sold to Family Media, the owners of Health, in 1987. Walt Disney Company bought the magazine when Family Media went out of...
- Fiske-Harrison, AlexanderAlexander Fiske-HarrisonAlexander Rupert Fiske-Harrison is an English writer and actor. He is best known for writing and acting in The Pendulum in London's West End and for his research into bullfighting for his book Into The Arena, which has led The Times to describe him as "the bullfighter-philosopher." Into The Arena...
, A.L.I.C.E.'s springs - Do computers really converse?, The Times Literary Supplement, June 9, 2000. - Sons and Daughters of HAL Go on Line by David Pescovitz, The New York Times, March 18, 1999.