INTERMEDIATE (B1) LEVEL ARTICLE
Are you talking to an idiot?
An article about language
If you know London, you know that it's full of people who talk nonsense! When you're on the bus or underground, when you're shopping on Oxford street or relaxing in Hyde Park, it is so common to
overhear
people having the strangest conversations. However, the speakers are always human... but perhaps not for much longer.
Read the conversation below - can you see what is unusual about it?
Person 1: OH MY GOD I LOVE YOU.
Person 2: I love you too.
Person 1: Will you have my babies? :D.
Person 2: Yes, please.
Person 1: YAY.
Person 2: I love you, sweetheart.
Person 1: I love you too :D.
Person 2: I love you more!
Person 1: LETS GET MARRIED.
Person 2: Ok when.
Person 1: NOW.
Person 2: Ok where at?
Person 1: HERE.
Person 2: Where is here?
Person 1: RIGHT HERE.
Person 2: Right here?
Person 1: YEAH.
Person 2: So...
Person 1: Do you take me as your lawfully wedded love?
Person 2: I do. Do you take me as your lawfully wedded husband?
Person 1: I DO!
Person 2: We may now kiss.
Person 1: *wedding bells chime as the wedding music plays as we kiss*.
Person 2: Yay! Except I am a Girl. -Divorce.
Person 1: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Person 2: Haha. You care a lot.
Person 1: My heart is broken....
Person 2: Who broke your heart?
Person 1: You did :(. You led me on the entire time.
Person 2: My sister cried too.
Person 1: You are evil and heartless :'(.
Person 2: Why am I evil?
Person 1: *points to previous posts up above*.
...
Person 1: Augh!!!
Person 2: What?
Person 1: You!!!!
Person 2: Me?
Person 1: I HATE YOU. I'M TAKING THE KIDS.
Person 2: What do you want to name them?
Person 1: I NEVER WANNA SEE YOU AGAIN.
Person 2: Why not?
Person 1: YOU BROKE MY HEART.
Person 2: I'll give you my name... And how am I supposed to break your heart when we don't even know each other's names?
Person 1: You forgot my name?! That's it! Goodbye!
...
Person 1: *five years pass*.
Person 2: What do you want me to do with you?
Person 1: I want you to pay the child support!
Person 2: What do you mean?
Person 1: Ugh.
In the conversation, Person 1 is a human, but Person 2 is a chatbot (a talking computer program) called Cleverbot. Now that you know this, are you impressed by how well the chatbot holds a conversation? Do you think computer programs will ever be able to hold a conversation like humans can?
The history of talking computers is fascinating. Computers already do a lot of work for us, and if we can talk to them in natural language, it will make them far more useful. However, this is not why they were first invented. Just after World War 2 an English mathematician called Alan Turing was interested in the human mind. He wondered whether it was possible to build an mind which is as good as a human's mind (or better) and decided that, in the future, it would be possible. However, how would you know when your artificial mind was good enough? Turing said that you should talk to the artificial mind and to a human, and if you couldn't tell the difference between them, then your artificial mind is equal to a human. Recently a film has been made about Alan Turing. It focusses on his work during the war and his interest in the artificial mind. Here's the trailer:
Read the conversation below - can you see what is unusual about it?
Person 1: OH MY GOD I LOVE YOU.
Person 2: I love you too.
Person 1: Will you have my babies? :D.
Person 2: Yes, please.
Person 1: YAY.
Person 2: I love you, sweetheart.
Person 1: I love you too :D.
Person 2: I love you more!
Person 1: LETS GET MARRIED.
Person 2: Ok when.
Person 1: NOW.
Person 2: Ok where at?
Person 1: HERE.
Person 2: Where is here?
Person 1: RIGHT HERE.
Person 2: Right here?
Person 1: YEAH.
Person 2: So...
Person 1: Do you take me as your lawfully wedded love?
Person 2: I do. Do you take me as your lawfully wedded husband?
Person 1: I DO!
Person 2: We may now kiss.
Person 1: *wedding bells chime as the wedding music plays as we kiss*.
Person 2: Yay! Except I am a Girl. -Divorce.
Person 1: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Person 2: Haha. You care a lot.
Person 1: My heart is broken....
Person 2: Who broke your heart?
Person 1: You did :(. You led me on the entire time.
Person 2: My sister cried too.
Person 1: You are evil and heartless :'(.
Person 2: Why am I evil?
Person 1: *points to previous posts up above*.
...
Person 1: Augh!!!
Person 2: What?
Person 1: You!!!!
Person 2: Me?
Person 1: I HATE YOU. I'M TAKING THE KIDS.
Person 2: What do you want to name them?
Person 1: I NEVER WANNA SEE YOU AGAIN.
Person 2: Why not?
Person 1: YOU BROKE MY HEART.
Person 2: I'll give you my name... And how am I supposed to break your heart when we don't even know each other's names?
Person 1: You forgot my name?! That's it! Goodbye!
...
Person 1: *five years pass*.
Person 2: What do you want me to do with you?
Person 1: I want you to pay the child support!
Person 2: What do you mean?
Person 1: Ugh.
In the conversation, Person 1 is a human, but Person 2 is a chatbot (a talking computer program) called Cleverbot. Now that you know this, are you impressed by how well the chatbot holds a conversation? Do you think computer programs will ever be able to hold a conversation like humans can?
The history of talking computers is fascinating. Computers already do a lot of work for us, and if we can talk to them in natural language, it will make them far more useful. However, this is not why they were first invented. Just after World War 2 an English mathematician called Alan Turing was interested in the human mind. He wondered whether it was possible to build an mind which is as good as a human's mind (or better) and decided that, in the future, it would be possible. However, how would you know when your artificial mind was good enough? Turing said that you should talk to the artificial mind and to a human, and if you couldn't tell the difference between them, then your artificial mind is equal to a human. Recently a film has been made about Alan Turing. It focusses on his work during the war and his interest in the artificial mind. Here's the trailer:
Why don't you go ahead and have a conversation with some chatbots too? I've put links to a few different ones below. While you chat, check the chatbot's grammar, and also check that the chatbot is making sense. Are there any ways that you can confuse them?
cleverbot (1998-2011)
mitsuku (2009)
jabberwacky (2005)
alice - a simple modern chatbot (2001)
eliza - the first chatbot (1966)
When I chat with the chatbots, it makes me realise just how complex, confusing and difficult languages are. Sometimes one word or phrase has two different meanings, and you can't know which one is correct unless you understand the situation. Can you see why the sentences below are confusing for a computer? Are they confusing for you?
Nowadays, chatbots have good grammar and they can reply to single sentences quite well, but the big challenge is making them understand the topic of a whole conversation, because when we speak, we always have a reason for our conversations that is bigger than just one or two sentences. Will computers ever be able to understand these topics? Two students were interested in this question, so they decided to see what would happen if one Cleverbot had a conversation with another Cleverbot. Watch the video:
cleverbot (1998-2011)
mitsuku (2009)
jabberwacky (2005)
alice - a simple modern chatbot (2001)
eliza - the first chatbot (1966)
When I chat with the chatbots, it makes me realise just how complex, confusing and difficult languages are. Sometimes one word or phrase has two different meanings, and you can't know which one is correct unless you understand the situation. Can you see why the sentences below are confusing for a computer? Are they confusing for you?
- He was driving on the right side of the road.
- She was standing by the window in her dressing gown. When the postman arrived, she opened it.
- The lady hit the man with an umbrella.
- He gave her cat food.
- Nobody is better than me.
Nowadays, chatbots have good grammar and they can reply to single sentences quite well, but the big challenge is making them understand the topic of a whole conversation, because when we speak, we always have a reason for our conversations that is bigger than just one or two sentences. Will computers ever be able to understand these topics? Two students were interested in this question, so they decided to see what would happen if one Cleverbot had a conversation with another Cleverbot. Watch the video:
So, next time you are sitting on a bus and you overhear some people having a strange conversation, don't turn and look at them - try to imagine that they are both computer programs. Perhaps one day soon they really will be.
Here are some questions on the text:
- Language is not really very complicated.
a) True
b) False
c) Doesn't say
- Chatbots are places on the internet where people can speak to each other.
a) True
b) False
c) Doesn't say
- Alan Turing believed that in twenty years' time there would be a computer equal to a human's brain.
a) True
b) False
c) Doesn't say
- These days, chatbots are able to communicate well with simple sentences.
a) True
b) False
c) Doesn't say
Watch the first video again to answer these questions:
- The machine they are talking about is used for writing letters.
a) True
b) False
c) Doesn't say
- Enigma is a very intelligent person.
a) True
b) False
c) Doesn't say
- Turing is trying to create a code-breaking machine.
a) True
b) False
c) Doesn't say
Watch the second video again to answer these questions:
- The two chatbots have a conversation that could be confused for a human one.
a) True
b) False
c) Doesn't say
- One chatbot describes itself as a unicorn.
a) True
b) False
c) Doesn't say
- The male chatbot is an atheist.
a) True
b) False
c) Doesn't say
