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intro.psych (Psyco 105) Discussion: Group 1 Discussion Group: Cognitive Development: Sites to Visit: TIPS - An Artificial Intelligence Program That Talks to You
By Connie Varnhagen (Admin) on Tuesday, September 1, 1998 - 03:01 pm:
TIPS is an artificial intelligence program that "speaks" English. TIPS is maintained by Communications Canada. Try having a conversation with TIPS. Is TIPS a good communicator? What is it about our speech that makes is "conversation?"
I tried to have a conversation with all three that were available. It was very interesting because it was very technical and straight to the point. Usually in a conversation with another person there are little "asides" and personal opinions. When talking with TIPS, answers were very technical and there was not feeling within the conversation. Even talking over email when you don't actually hear a voice, there is more "personality", and that is part of what makes a conversation. I tried a little experiment, and asked the question if TIPS enjoys sex, thinking the answer would be, no, because computers obviously don't have sex. And the answer was they he/she loved it. I was shocked and also, on top of that TIPS went on to explain why he/she enjoyed it and what made sex good, it was interesting the explanation that was given was very technical, and was very clear about being safe, things that a text book would say. It seemed the computer had an answer for evey question that could be thought of. But it wasn't like a real conversation, like I said before, it needed "personality" and "emotion".
I tried two of the three conversations. The "sex" and the "mystery" conversations. The "mystery" conversation was more like talking to a human than the "sex" conversation. I agree with Jep that the answers were all very text book like. The reason that these conversations did not seem like real conversations was because instead of answering a direct question, the computer seemed to focus in on one or two words I wrote and just talk about them so the answers were a little off topic. I think an important aspect of conversation that is missing here is the ability for the computer to be able to process information and respond with the use of sensory, short, and long-term memory stores. One minute I was swearing at the computer and the next he was saying that I was okay. Also, he gave me the same answers more than one time when I asked different questions with some similar words. One thing that was both interesting and amusing was that the computer swore back at me and defended himself when I insulted him which showed some kind of emotional response.
It's funny how it would swear back at you, it's like it knows what the swears you say to it mean and are able to process them even though they are "slang". Yet when you try to say something more complicated with slang words it only picks out certain words. It's like it doesn't know how to deal with more then one "issue" at a time. It's obvious the answers are pre recorded but it is strange that you would get the exact same answer for two different questions with similar words in the same conversation. It obviously doesn't not retain and refer to the questions and statements said to it previously in the "conversation"
I really did not enjoy trying to talk to TIPS. I found it frustrating, because I got the same answers for several different questions. I also didn't like that I had to type a proper sentence for it to understand me. If I were carring out a conversation with a friend, I would not be speaking in full sentences. This formality is probably what I disliked, because we just don't talk like that. Also, the answers I received didn't always answer my questions. The program definitely picked out key words, probably in a specific order, producing the answers. I thought that TIPS wasn't really good at communicating, especially because I found little humor, emotion and only a small amount of personal opinion. The lack of these things made the conversations feel like a police questioning. TIPS was also lacking memory and therefore you could get the same answer over and over again without typing anything diferrent. It was interesting talking to TIPS but I certainly could not forget that a computer was answering my questions. With better phrased answers, more variety and some kind of counter for repetiveness in the program, it would be a much better conversationalist.
Mike, did you try typing like you talk? How much can TIPS understand of more normal conversation - that is conversation w/o complete, grammatical sentences. We (TIPS and I) have a great conversation of gripes and growls. Sorta like a couple of adolescents talkin'
I also tried to talk with the computer as Connie did and most of the answers that I got were What? or Huh? Or I don't know. It was like it had no way of knowing how real people talked when not talking in full grammatical sentences. Also I think I accidentaly spelled something wrong or put two words together and the computer wasn't able to figure out what I really meant to put down.
Go There
Back to Cognitive Development Sites to Visit
By Jep on Wednesday, September 23, 1998 - 01:35 pm:
By Ivanka on Sunday, September 27, 1998 - 04:15 pm:
By Jep on Sunday, September 27, 1998 - 05:17 pm:
By Mike on Monday, September 28, 1998 - 12:58 pm:
By Admin on Monday, September 28, 1998 - 01:44 pm:
Connie
By Jep on Monday, September 28, 1998 - 01:55 pm:
By Ivanka on Monday, September 28, 1998 - 06:36 pm: