A computer program designed to talk like a human is preparing for its biggest test in its bid to be truly "intelligent".

Jabberwacky lives on a computer hard drive, tells jokes, uses slang, sometimes swears and can be quite a confrontational conversationalist.

Full BBC News story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3116780.stm

Rollo Carpenter said: "Jabberwacky is different. It learns. Constant feedback from real people makes it come to life. Every day some people believe they are connected to a human, asking questions like 'How do you type so fast?' and 'How much do you get paid for doing this?'"

"Jabberwacky now has more than a million entries in its database. I believe that, with 10 million, it will appear human to most people most of the time, and will have a genuine role as a companion or conversational partner to humans."

Full Press Release: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2003/9/prweb80252.htm