[andysandmikesmom]

I have learned two things from the article, and your explanations...first that people can reply to a question in such a way, which would indicate that they have very little specific knowledge about the subject that is being discussed...scarey...

Secondly, the anecdotal stories, which reveal that many people actually thought they were talking with a real person, rather than a computer program...also scarey...

I hardly know which I think is the most scarey...that one actually acts like an 'Eliza' program, or that one cannot recognize an 'Eliza' program in progress...

[CarolinaGuitarman]

"I hardly know which I think is the most scarey...that one actually acts like an 'Eliza' program, or that one cannot recognize an 'Eliza' program in progress..."

And how does that make you feel?

[trashcanbred]

Testing if one can determine they are talking to an program or a human is called the Turing Test. So far... I seem to fail it.

I tried the javascript version from the link off of Wikipedia. The following is a real conversation:

* ID should not be taught in school
> Say, do you have any psychological problems?
* Yes, his name is Fester
> Names don't interest me.
* Me either what are you doing later?
> Perhaps in your fantasies I am doing later?
* So tell me is ID science or not
> Come, come, elucidate your thoughts.
* ID is faith based
> What does that suggest to you?
* it should not be taught in school
> Say, do you have any psychological problems?

[PatrickHenry]

The point of the ELIZA program is that it mimics a psychiatric technique. The shrink just picks up on something you said and turns it into a question. For example, you said: I hardly know which I think is the most scarey ...

A shrink using that technique, or an ELIZA program, would then respond: Does it bother you that you don't know which is most scary? A shrink can keep that up for your whole hour, and in the end you would think how wonderful he is, and how good he is at probing your problems. But he can do that stuff in his sleep, without knowing or caring about you.

And so it is with certain trolls.