I found this summary to have some particularly good generalization to related topics. It was an interesting examination of how computers manage the tasks that we find both easy (like conversation) and difficult (playing chess).

TIPS is a good conversationalist only if you ask it the right questions. This seems more like a question and answer session than a true conversation. According to webster's (from the online dictionary at www,dictionary.com) conversation is the interchange of sentiments and observations. In that sense this is a one sided conversation we are recieving the sentiments and observations of a computer (well actually a programmer or a text book). This program uses keywords to find the proper response to your questions, proper grammer isn't necessary. It is also similar to the children's site in the sense that you have choices, but unfortunatly they are not clear and you can make a wrong choice. The only "conversation" that seems like a conversation
is the mystery conversation. It however is still a question and answer session, the only difference
is that the program prompts you for a certain question, like "I've had a bad week". There is somewonder wether this is artificial intelligence. We have all heard of the IBM computer, Deep Blue,
beating the world champion of chess, this computer has been programmed with most of the
possible moves and outcomes. Its really a calculater that figures out which move gives it the best chance of winning, and it can "learn" from its mistakes in the sense that it adds another set of statistics to its memory. TIPS
does not "learn", and it only gives a programmed response to a certain actions. Well then isn't it
sort of like Deep Blue? I can see this could go in circles. Basicly, the idea that TIPS converses
can go both ways, it depends on your definition of conversation, and wether the ability to fully
understand language is a factor.