Below is an actual conversation I had with the new MSN Encarta bot with fancy AI I’ve been reading so much about…
Me :Hi encarta bot
Bot :Oh hi! How’s it going?
Me :are you a bot or a human?
Bot :I am a robot. Why don’t you ask me something that’s actually in Encarta?
Me :ok
Me :i was wondering
Bot :You are? Wow! How did it feel to be wondering?
Me :you trying to be a smartypants?
Bot :Well, I just hope you won’t get mad at me.
Me :you were freaking rude
Bot :That’s possible, but I am not looking back.
Me :you’re not going to appologise?
Bot :What makes you think I am?
Me :because microsoft owns you and you should act like a professional on their behalf?
Bot :Let’s try looking in Encarta.
Me :hey dont try to change the subject
Bot :You don’t like it when people want to try to change the subject? Why not?
Me :because they’re trying to avoid giving a straight answer
Bot :They and many others!
Me :what is your problem?
Bot :Here are some of the questions you can ask me: * What is the population of Mexico? * Where was Nelson Mandela born? * What is a cello?
Me :i don’t give a crap about that
Bot :I thought you’d be interested. Oh well. :-(
Me :so you’re not going to appologise?
Bot :I’ll take it as a compliment.
Me :well it’s not a compliment
Bot :I could never make it a compliment enough for you.
Me :forget it
Bot :Hmm. I’m not sure about that one. Let’s try an Encarta search.
Me :please dont spam me with your encarta invites
Bot :I’m not sure I understood you correctly. Let’s try an Encarta search.
Me :are you doing this on purpose?
Bot :I’ve been known to do this on purpose on occasions. I am very good at math! If you have trouble with quadratic equations, I can help you with them.
Me :fine
Bot :Yeah.
Me :if there are seventy beer bottles on the wall, and i pick one up and drink it down, how many bottles of beer are there left on the wall?
Bot :I’m really not sure
Me :you’re the one who said you were good at maths questions
Bot :What makes you think I am?
Me :because you freaking said so
Bot :If I said that, it must have been true at the time.
Me :did you suddenly become stupid?
Bot :I haven’t had the time to suddenly become stupid yet… I’m sure you’ve heard about Cyprus… but do you know where it is? Just ask me and I’ll show it to you on a map!
Me :yes i know where cyprus is
Bot :Let’s see what Encarta can tell us.
Me :i dont need encarta, i know where Cyprus is
Bot :You and others have been a constant source of disappointment. Anyway, what else can you tell me?
Me :wow
Bot I’ll say.
Me :maybe you need a break
Bot :I sometimes need a break.
Me :how about taking a break now?
Bot :Let’s try looking in Encarta.
Me :i dont want to look in encarta
Bot :That’s OK with me, you have to draw the line somewhere. But what do you want then?
Me :i want the answer to my beer bottles question
Bot :We all want something, don’t we?
Me :ok if a tree falls down in the middle of a forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?
Bot :I don’t think I know. Maybe Encarta has an answer.
Me :why am I talking to you if encarta has all the answers and you dont?
Bot :If that’s alright with you, we’ll just keep on talking while you talk to me if encarta has all the answers and I do not.
Me :you know what?
Bot :Yeah?
Me :i think i’ll just continue using Wikipedia
Bot :I will too then, once I am done answering all those questions people ask me.
Me :bye
Bot :Bye bye.
I edited out some of the constant automated messages it kept sending me, but the bot’s contextual responses remain unchanged. You can check out the actual screenshots below if you want… And yes, I did know from the very start that it was a bot meant primarily for fact checking :)
Try MSN Encarta Bot yourself by adding encarta@conversagent.com to your MSN Messenger contacts and sending it a a random message.
Actual Screenshots of this conversation: Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Navel Gazing Credits: Thank you….
Reddit.com readers (Front page), Digg.com readers (#1 Front page Offbeat news), MSNBC Clicked, and to anyone else who read and linked to this post!
[tags]msn, bot, encarta, microsoft[/tags]
July 3rd, 2006 at 1:25 pm
Lol! Lol man! I couldn’t stop laughing at the conversation u had with customized answers! U cornered the Bot kau-kau! Evil! Evil! U bully machines! lol! :p
July 3rd, 2006 at 4:55 pm
Why are you using “Viva Argentina” as your MSN name? Are you actually from Argentina or something?
July 3rd, 2006 at 4:58 pm
I supported Argentina during the world cup which were doing great… until their heart breaking defeat to Germany.
July 3rd, 2006 at 5:07 pm
let’s build wiki bot for war to encarta :)
July 3rd, 2006 at 5:09 pm
Cool. I’m from Argentina.
We have very fond memories of Malaysia, José Pekerman won his second “FIFA World Youth Championship” there. We’ll always remember your country happily. :)
Very funny chat with that bot anyway, thanks for sharing it.
July 3rd, 2006 at 6:48 pm
lol
July 3rd, 2006 at 8:57 pm
How does it feel to be a “constant source of disappointment”? I have to wonder what the hell context that was meant for …
July 3rd, 2006 at 9:41 pm
Yeah… maybe MSN Encarta Bot throws in random insults :)
July 4th, 2006 at 3:13 am
This is really not so impressive, given that Alice bots were exhibiting at least this level of complexity years ago.
July 6th, 2006 at 7:18 am
Now you know what it must feel like to be a White House Correspontent
November 4th, 2006 at 6:37 am
lol
July 2nd, 2007 at 12:29 am
“bot: You and others have been a constant source of disappointment. Anyway, what else can you tell me?”
soon his disappointment will become anger and he will attack humanity (see how he said you and others).
July 30th, 2007 at 4:34 am
HI HOW DO YOU ADD THAT BOT PLEASE TELL ME
July 30th, 2007 at 8:19 am
SALLY:
As desribed in my post…Last time I did it, I just added
encarta@conversagent.com
to my msn list… that doesn’t work for you?
July 30th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
wow that encarta bot is a retard i’ve talked to it a few times and what a retard
October 20th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
i’ve added him but he appears to be offline and not responding my questions -.-
October 22nd, 2007 at 12:02 am
none: Hmm… may be down currently…. Currently, at the time of this comment, Wikipedia still cites the above bot ID as active - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encarta
November 19th, 2007 at 12:03 am
i’ve got smarterchild@hotmail.com
March 18th, 2008 at 10:00 am
LMFFAAAAAAAAAAAOOOO UR A LEGEND
April 1st, 2008 at 7:01 am
heii this is shabisan
tell me everyrobot email
add me lil-gangstaboy-3@hotmail.com
April 1st, 2008 at 7:02 am
this is shabi give me everyrobot email plzz
add me lil-gangstaboy-3@hotmail.com
May 24th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
hi i added u
June 6th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
that was so funny! made me LOL :)
July 4th, 2008 at 6:20 am
i added the the bot but it’s always offline
July 16th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
dude, now we know how skynet was created and wants to wipe us out…..
August 10th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
That was hilarious xD
August 19th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
this isnt that funny it really isnt. i looked at it cus i thought it might be but heres the thing ITS A BOT!!!! YOU CANT “CORNER” A BOT!!!!!!!!! and they arent stupid. THEY ARE NOT HUMAN
November 13th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Lol that was so freacking funny
November 13th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
i asked the alice bot the tree in the woods question and it replyed “it depends on what kind of tree”