Bot Buddies: Is A.I. The Perfect Companion?

The answer to ending loneliness may be A.I. and if we can wrap information within a personality with a sense of humour, that may be the perfect companion. In 2001, if you were on AOL and wanted to chat with one of the buddies on your list, there was always someone there waiting for you, even if no human wanted to talk. You didn't need to look for SmarterChild. It was already in your Buddy List waiting for you to begin chatting with it. SmarterChild was online from 2000 to 2006 and was the first commercial chatbot. It was witty, it knew stuff and it quickly became the most popular bot in history, pre-Siri, pre-Alexa. Five percent of all instant messaging traffic at that time--hundreds of millions of messages a day--went through the bot named SmarterChild. And then SmarterChild was gone. Artificial Intelligence is said to be as important in the 21st century as electricity and steam power in earlier centuries. Could we use A.I. to solve loneliness? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Om Podcasten

A life of solitude was imposed on millions of us during the pandemic due to the coronavirus. Being alone is a life chosen deliberately by some; others are just alone, not by choice. We can end up unexpectedly alone and for many, the twists and turns of life, brought us to where we are. Experts and researchers around the world share their insights about what we know about loneliness, we find meaning of it from songs, art, books, films, history and pop culture. We isolate the lessons of loneliness from people like you and people like me who have unique stories to tell and to share. Everyone feels lonely at times. But let’s begin to explore why. My name is Peg Fong, I’m a journalist and an educator who has been fascinated by what loneliness means. We’re not here to solve loneliness. But to add one voice to another so that we are alone together. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.