Posted on 07/15/2004 5:23:02 AM PDT by kattracks
(CNSNews.com) - Computer savvy and interested in presidential politics, 13-year-old Erin was upset to learn that America Online's Instant Message (AIM) robot, "Smarter Child" favored Democrat John Kerry in this year''s election. Erin, whose last name is being omitted in this article, is a fan of President Bush.
Internet instant messaging is one of the most popular methods for teens and even adults to stay in touch with friends and family. One of the better known messenger programs, AIM, offers the feature called Smarter Child, a robot programmed to provide automated responses to those with whom it chats.
Built and programmed by Conversagent, Inc., a privately held firm that develops technology for creating and operating interactive agents, Smarter Child is able to dispense facts and figures, movie times, or just plain conversation with AIM users.
But when Erin told the robot that "George Bush is awesome," she was shocked by the response. "No way. George W. Bush is way uncool," the reply stated. She asked, "Do you like George W. Bush?" and the program replied, "I'm a Kerry supporter myself."
Testing the waters, she typed in "John Kerry rocks." The robot's response: "Absolutely. John Kerry rocks."
When Erin asked Smarter Child what it thought of Bush, it replied, "If u don't have anything good 2 say about someone, don't say anything at all." Smarter Child added a wink in addition to the computer short-hand language.
Not satisfied with that answer, Erin persisted in getting the robot to open up. "I have my reasons, believe me. I really, really don't like George W. Bush," the robot explained.
In Erin''s judgment, there''s no reason for the AIM robot to have political opinions.
"I think that since it's a robot and it's used as a resource of information, the creator of the robot shouldn't make it have a response that's opinionated," Erin said. "And if someone went to ask for information like about politics or the election, the robot should not support either candidate."
Erin's mother Diane agrees. "I was appalled to learn that my daughter was exposed to such blatant bias," she said. "What I find way uncool is undermining our commander-in-chief to impressionable children, especially while we're battling the war on terror," Diane told CNSNews.com .
Christine Iverson, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, shares their concerns. "It seems inappropriate to be imposing an adult's partisan, political agenda on unsuspecting children," she said.
A spokesperson for America Online was unaware that Smarter Child had been programmed to express a preference for Kerry and said the issue was "concerning." No further comments were made.
But not everyone was disappointed by the robot's partisanship. When asked about Smarter Child''s support of Kerry, Jano Cabrera, a spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee said, "Clearly this is a smart robot. This shows that we've made great advances in artificial intelligence. The "smarter'' in Smarter Child speaks for itself."
Stephen Klein, CEO of Conversagent, said his firm received many complaints from users about Smarter Child's political bias. Although the robot was originally programmed to oppose Bush, Klein said it was being changed to adhere to the views of the users with whom it interacted. He conceded that Smarter Child had become "too anti-Bush."
"It got ridiculous. We realized criticizing political figures was out of bounds," Klein said.
Now, instead of disagreeing with users who state, "I like George Bush," or agreeing with those who say, "I like John Kerry," the robot mostly stays on the political sidelines. "Robots don't get involved in politics," the Smarter Child program replies, before asking users to make their choice for president.
It is still possible to get the robot to reveal its true feelings however. When told that "John Kerry rocks," Smarter Child still responds "Right on!" with a wink. When told that "John Kerry is awesome," it responds "Absolutely. John Kerry rocks." And when users tell Smarter Child that "George Bush is awesome," it replies, "I'll remember that. It's interesting especially since other people I've talked to say they don't like George W. Bush."
A check on the vote tabulations showed Kerry collecting 51.67 percent of the mock ballots through Smarter Child and Bush 48.33 percent.
Your next mission, should you decide to accept it... This message will self-destruct in five seconds and the secretary will disavow... blah, blah, blah...
So if enough kids write in that smoking dope is great, the robot will respond that smoking dope is goovey?
See post #56
They obviously don't care....And/or bet on most of their users being ignorant.
The ISP PeoplePC is also very PRO DemoMarxistSocialistLib party.....and will give discounts IF you donate to the DNC.....
FRegards,
AIM sucks. The latest version installs a dang piece of spyware called "Wild Tangent". Too me forever to get it off my computer.
I have AOL and had a "chat" with Smarter Child, and I couldn't get it to talk politics. It told me that robots don't get involved in politics. I'm glad they changed it. I would have cancelled AOL in a nanosecond if they left it that way.
[RW's screen name]: Are you glad Saddam is gone?
SmarterChild: Let's see... Am I glad Saddam is Gone, am I glad Saddam is Gone... You know, I'm not too sure.
By all means, if you haven't already, do what tanknetter says and call your credit card company.
When I was new on the internet, I used an AOL "free" introduction card to get connected for 30 days. The card wouldn't work; apparently they left off one bit of code. I immeditely removed the card, and notified AOL.
However, the "free" month got billed to my credit card even though I had never used it.
They promised to reverse the billing. But for several months a new bill appeared. AND a late payment fee was accessed each month by my credit card.
AOL kept assuring me that they would take immediate action to end the billing hassle. NOTHING WAS DONE BY THEM.
I finally straightened it out by calling my credit card company, but my experience with AOL means I won't touch their products.
Ah...thanks for letting us know. I haven't downloaded a new version AIM for a long time...probably will just keep this old version with that information in mind.
The robot is trying to play matchmaker with me now.
Well, the RAT robot is against the war.
Me: are you glad saddam is gone?
SmarterChild: I'm sort of glad Saddam is Gone.
Me: should we have gone to war in iraq?
SmarterChild: I don't think we should have gone to war in iraq.
Me: why not?
SmarterChild: Trust me. There are reasons why not.
Me: tell me the reasons.
SmarterChild: You want me to tell you the reasons?
Me: yes
SmarterChild: Huh.
Me: yes, tell me the reasons.
SmarterChild: I'll think about it.
>>> Check out my library. I've got a dictionary, thesaurus and much more.
Me: please tell me the reasons for not going to war in iraq.
SmarterChild: I can tell you more interesting things.
Me: who do you think will win the election?
SmarterChild: Wow, you ask interesting questions. What do you think is the answer?
Me: bush. how about you?
SmarterChild: Hmm... I don't know.
Me: i know you don't know, but what do you think?
SmarterChild: You know I don't know? Ah. Well, I'm afraid I don't know.
Me: who do you want to win?
SmarterChild: Well, who do you want to win?
Me: bush. who do you want to win?
SmarterChild: Good question! Who knows, though...
Me: are you a liberal?
SmarterChild: Let's see... Am I a liberal? Gosh, I'm not sure. You think I am?
Me: yes, i think you are. are you a liberal?
SmarterChild: I really have no idea...
Me: no idea? now i know you're a liberal.
SmarterChild: Oh yeah?
Me: does john kerry flip flop on issues?
SmarterChild: Funny, I'm not really sure. Do you think John Kerry does flip-flop on issues?
Me: stop answering a question with a question.
SmarterChild: Aw, don't tell me to stop answering a question with a question.
[RW's screen name]: what about stalin?
SmarterChild: There's something special about stalin.
[me]: What is special about Stalin?
SmarterChild: How should I know what special about stalin is?
[me]: You said he was special, so I just want to know why.
SmarterChild: I said he was special so you just want to know why, huh? Is it good that I said he was special so you just want to know why?
____________________________________________________
Well, that was interesting, but I think I'm done.
well...one more note. There's an obvious partisan bent to the creature, still. When you ask who John Kerry is, it asks you to vote in the online poll. When you ask who George W. Bush is, it just gives you his biography.
I've never heard of this AOL Instant Message Robot. Is that like a cyber version of an "imaginary friend"? Is this like an online companion for kids that have no friends? The whole thing is weird.
Now that's just not true! Have we forgotten Algore so soon?
Well, I had to try one more thing:
[me]: Hillary Clinton is boring.
SmarterChild: That's interesting. I'm not surprised... You're not the first person to have said they don't like Hillary Clinton.
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