Can a smooth-talking robot initiate good conversation, generate witty responses, and reveal profound thoughts? See what happens when two chatbots speak to each other.

Discover Magazine Article: http://discovermagazine.com/2007/brain/i-chat-therefore-i-am

Nobody enjoys telephoning a call centre. Could 'chatbot' technology make the experience less painful?

WITH their irritating menu trees and endless holding for the next available operator, call centres are one of the bugbears of modern life. Could a dose of software make the experience of dealing with one less painful? Researchers working on conversational software programs, or chatbots, certainly hope so. They aim to supplement and even replace human operators with software that can understand ordinary conversational language, and thus deal with calls more efficiently.

The Economist Article: http://www.economist.com/printedition/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8766002

George thinks you are a machine. Most of the time he sneers at you. Perhaps he is bitter, perhaps he is just teasing. But either way there is no need to be offended. George is a computer program.

Despite being an artificial intelligence, he is an incredibly likeable character. He cracks jokes at your expense and sometimes blurts out random responses.

Full Epoch Times story: http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-12-3/48907.html

To web surfers, 'George' is a bald, spectacled and slightly androgynous-looking 39-year-old, who claims to be a computer programmer. But to his creators, this quirky chat robot, or 'chatbot', represents an enormously promising future for artificial-intelligence avatars on the internet. And IST research played its part.

Powered by award-winning artificial intelligence (AI) that was developed by British programmer Rollo Carpenter, 'George' the avatar has a 3D appearance, a variety of facial expressions and the ability to understand and respond to others using human speech. He is the product of groundbreaking work by British firm InterMediaLab, a leading developer of virtual-reality control systems for animated content.

Innovations Report Article: http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/informationstechnologie/bericht-72460.html

George says he doesn't know if he wants to work in a call center, and doesn't think he could sell car insurance which is unfortunate, as his creator has just that sort of future mapped out for him.

"I am not an artificial intelligence program," insists George.

Washington Post / Reuters article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101200648.html