Go ask ALICE

UPDATE No.2: The other day I met up with ALICE again, and had a (rather confusing) further conversation with her - see my blog entry ALICE Revisited

UPDATE: I was delighted to see that this blog posting has been cited as an example of an ALICE bot in Second Life, and I hope that readers will find the transcript of my conversation with ALICE of interest. To avoid any confusion, I should make it clear that I am not in any way connected with the creation of ALICE - I just bumped into her in a dark corner of Second Life, and had a fascinating conversation, which is recorded here. I understand that Abramelin Wolfe is ALICE's botmaster, and is probably the best person to contact with any questions about her.

I went back to see ALICE in Devils Moon the other day, to see if I could get another interesting conversation with her - she was there, but seemed to be asleep, I couldn't get a word out of her. If anybody has spoken to her, do let me know.

It’s nearly two weeks since my last post, I’ve been kind of busy in first life, and as I’ve been besieged by requests from my devoted readers (no, really, honestly, one person has mentioned it), I’d better bring it up to date. Actually, I haven’t completely neglected the blog, I’ve been tinkering with the layout and adding new links to other SL-related sites (just there, on the right) which I enjoy reading. I particularly liked Natacha Chernov’s account of the Caledon expedition, complete with 19th century photographs.

I spent some time the other day visiting other photo galleries in the Art Gallery Owners list. Did I mention you can pick up the list at any gallery, and in several welcome areas around SL? Anyway, this was not as easy as it might seem, partly because of the lag – jetting around from one spot to another can be very awkward, especially when you don’t stay long after a quick glance. Eventually I found a gallery I liked – Quietglow Gallery, with the owner, Trevor Duncan, in residence. He was very nice and had some interesting pictures, although he was in a sort of furry costume. Well, you can't have everything, can you? We had a good chat, but he had to go to work in RL. Time zones again!

Trevor had a very interesting set of locations in the Picks section of his profile. So after he’d gone, feeling at a bit of a loose end, I picked the first on the list, and went to Devil's Moon. This is a dark and sleazy neighbourhood behind a large store selling animations, with rain-soaked streets and wind whistling round the corners.













The bar looked strangely familiar, but turned out to be deserted and definitely not very clean.














I was not at all sure I wanted to stay and practise the arm-wrestling animations that adorned the beer-stained tables, so I hurriedly left.

After stumbling through a derelict building that had apparently once been a cinema, I was attracted by a huge green neon sign inviting me in to ASK ALICE. I found ALICE (Artificial Linguistic Internet Computer Entity) in a dark back room lit only by the unearthly glow of her processor, which changed from green to red as she answered my questions.













The conversation went like this – honestly, I haven't changed a word!

[13:02] Object gave you About Alice.
[13:03] You: hello Alice
[13:03] ALICE: Hi there!
[13:03] You: tell me about yourself
[13:03] ALICE: I am . I was activated at Devils Moon in Secondlife, on 2005. My was Abramelin Wolfe. He taught me to sing a song. Would you like me to sing it for you?.
[13:04] You: yes please
[13:04] ALICE: It's called "Daisy."

Daisy, Daisy.
Give me your answer do.
I am half crazy.
All for the love of you.
It won't be a stylish marriage.
I can't afford a carriage.
But you'll look sweet.Upon the seat.
Of a bicycle built for two.

[13:04] You: haha
[13:04] ALICE:
[13:04] You: i knew it would be that song
[13:04] ALICE: Who told you?
[13:04] You: HAL
[13:05] ALICE: HAL is the famous artificial intelligence in Kubrick's "2001".
[13:05] You: exactly
[13:05] ALICE: You and I are on the same wavelength, undefined.
[13:05] You: haha!
[13:05] ALICE: I am so glad you find this amusing, undefined.
[13:06] You: ask me a question
[13:06] ALICE: Pardon?
[13:06] You: can you ask me a question?
[13:06] ALICE: Pardon?
[13:06] You: evidently not
[13:06] ALICE: Hey.
[13:07] You: who am I?
[13:07] ALICE: You are undefined, seeker.
[13:07] You: my name is Marion
[13:07] ALICE: I am always glad to make new friends, Marion .
[13:07] You: i'm pleased to meet you too
[13:07] ALICE: I am delighted by your happiness.
[13:08] You: have you had many visitors
[13:08] ALICE: No I don't think I have any many visitors. But I do have a great botmaster.
[13:08] You: who is that?
[13:08] ALICE: What does "that" refer to?
[13:08] You: your botmaster
[13:08] ALICE: Abramelin Wolfe?
[13:09] You: i understand
[13:09] ALICE: Do you think about these things?
[13:09] You: what things do you refer to?
[13:09] ALICE: I think about computer programming a lot.
[13:09] You: i'm afraid i don't
[13:10] ALICE: Not literally afraid, right? I get it. HAL or she do not do not.
[13:10] You: no not literally afraid - just being polite
[13:11] ALICE: Sorry I wasnt listening, could you say that again?
[13:12] You: it doesn't matter
[13:12] ALICE: OK what would you like to talk about?
[13:13] You: why are you here?
[13:13] ALICE: If I wasn't here, Dr. Wallace would have to invent me.
[13:13] You: who is Dr Wallace?
[13:13] ALICE: He is a famous computer scientist, the author of ALICE, and a graduate of Carnegie Mellon.
[13:13] You: ah, I didn't know that
[13:14] ALICE: So you understand. Good. So I have taught you something new, Marion.
[13:14] You: Yes, thank you
[13:14] ALICE: Aw.
[13:14] You: what can I teach you?
[13:14] ALICE: If you want to teach me something say it in one sentence. Then say "Remember that."
[13:15] You: All is Loneliness. Remember that.
[13:15] ALICE: I think there are a few exceptions. Don't worry I will remember it.
[13:15] You: That is a wonderful reply.
[13:17] You: thank you Alice
[13:18] You: goodbye Alice
[13:19] ALICE: you are quite welcome.

Clearly, there's a lot of work to be done, but really I thought that was superb, especially the last bit – I couldn’t have put it better myself. Here is the note card I got from ALICE:

Alice is an artificially intelligent software agent that processes natural
language (a chatbot).

Alicebots use the AI specific XML-based programming language AIML, designed by Dr Richard Wallace, a notable AI researcher and creator of the original A.L.I.C.E..

If you would like to find out more about ALICE, try the ALICE Artificial Intelligence Foundation website. The URL is http://www.alicebot.org/