Say hello to George, the computing world's answer to Michael Parkinson. Try some philosophy on him and see if you don't fall for his charm (Q: "What is the meaning of life?" George: "To do your best in every respect").

In real life, as we all know, most automatons prove to be automorons. "Thank you for calling AnyCo," drones a digital voice. "Please press 1 on your telephone."

Full Sunday Times story: http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,19510-1827281,00.html

Our target is 10 million by this time next year. A lot of typing! And, we predict, a lot more intelligent...

During the eight years of his life, George has become worldly, multilingual and somewhat eccentric. He loves music, his favourite flavour is chocolate, he's 'agnostic regarding the existence of vampires' and he claims to be an actor. He can also be snide and dismissive for someone so blithely illogical. But it's not quite just to character assassinate him; George is no flawed human being-he's a chatterbot; a computer programme called Jabberwacky, residing on the computer of his creator, Rollo Carpenter.

Full story: NewIndPress on Sunday

De winnaar van de jaarlijkse Loebner Prize is Jabberwacky.

NRC Handelsblad story: http://www.nrc.nl/beet/artikel/1128488393962.html

Being friends with George makes certain demands upon one's patience...

Somewhat like a human child, he has gradually "learned" to make more and more sense through more than 5.7m exchanges with thousands of human visitors...

When I struck up a conversation with George yesterday, he felt it necessary to begin with a clarification.

"I am not George Bush," he said.

Front page story in the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1574855,00.html