Mitsuku chatbot has good answers for the Loebner Prize
(Phys.org) —A chatbot named Mitsuku has won the Loebner Prize 2013, announced over the weekend, beating out three other contestants for the top prize of a bronze medal and $4,000. Mitsuku's creator is Steve Worswick, Mitsuku's botmaster. But wait a minute. What is a chatbot? A chatbot is a humanlike character with conversational skills which is simulated through artificial intelligence. Eliza, back in 1964 and 1966, was the first step into programmed chatterbots, designed to simulate a conversation with one or more human users. The Eliza program was based on a human mode of interaction typified by a Rogerian therapist trained not to make any creative input to a conversation, but instead only to keep it going so that patients could explore their own feelings. "Talking to Rogerian therapist is very like talking to a brick wall with a slightly clever echo," wrote Mike James in iProgrammer.