People can spend most of their time online, but it is very difficult to spend all of it there. Sometimes people have to work, go to school, or eat. Or sleep. And who will be there to chat with everyone while you are away? Until now there was no answer for this difficult problem. Now, there is MyCyberTwin.
The company, which is based in Australia, creates an online “clone” of users based on a 79 question personality quiz and hundreds of additional training questions. Once it’s complete, a chat bot is created for that user, which has it’s own web page, can be embedded into MySpace or another website, or can log into Microsoft Messenger on your behalf and pretend to be you. The Michael Arrington clone, which is about 10% trained, is here (and also embedded below). I’ve taught it to be as aggressively anti-social as possible.
MyCyberTwin founders Liesl Capper and John Zakos think the service will appeal to social networks and dating sites that are looking for user features that create more content and a stickier site. The company also has it’s own social network, offering to put compatible users in touch with each other.
mycyber….what?
I’m not that overly impressed with it from what I saw playing about with it for a minute there. It seems to be substandard… the MSN chat bots that were released not so long ago seem to be more advanced.
I persuaded your evil twin to give me $10k. When can I expect the cheque
I think it looks pretty cool. The answers are pretty basic if you don’t feed much info in 2yr twin, but I’ve chatted 2 my girlfriends clone and she’s keyed in a lot of stuff and i had some pretty funny conversations.
They just got it. Thousands and thousands web sites are starving for your personal information, and you will give it all to this web site without any 2nd thoughts, simply because it is usefull to you, not them.
Not them? Well, maybe them too.
I think I stumped your clone when I pasted 4000 pages of 1’s and 0’s into the box and pressed enter. he has been think for about 10 min now LOL
As someone’s who’s wasted a lot of time making chatterbots for laughs, there’s one massive obvious flaw with this. It responds instantly. There’s one lesser flaw.. it never initiates with comments of its own.
I actually agree with the sentiments of the founders, but they need to work a little more on the bot itself for it to really fool people
You: Why do you ban my IP when I try to submit a comment?
michael: I do it because I choose to, I need no other reason than that do I.
You: Is that the best answer you can give?
michael: Yes, that’s it.
LOL. This is kinda fun.
This web site is really idiotic… Can somebody explain me the point of a chat bot ???
You: can you understand what I am saying
Christina: I hate to admit this, but I have some limitations. That just might be one of them.
You: Can you understand what I am saying ?
Christina: You might have to ask Christina to buy me a body before I can do that, I am only a software clone.
You: So what is the point of chatting ?
Christina: It can be anything. What do you want it to be ?
“from what I saw playing about with it for a minute there”…Well, if you spend a minute, you will get something, but basically the more time you spend the better your Mycybertwin will get.
You: ass
michael: Dave Winer, is that you?
Classic.
Oh yeah, the point of it is, you can get it to ask your users questions, like ‘what would you like me to post about next? How did you hear about my blog etc.” You can then look at the answers and really get to know your audience, without having to read tons of comments and filter through them. MyCybertwin can also handle FAQ’s, and you can link those to previous postings. But you have to spend some time in FAQ under MyContent to get that going. We rank those above other reponses, and can handle close approximations to the question.
anti social? how about overtly sexual? could your cyber twin be arrested for soliciting a MSNBC staff member?
You: bbye
michael: That is an interesting viewpoint.
mind-blowing!!!!!!
This is the start of web 3.0. This is the period where we so nothing innovative and nothing compelling. Web 2.0 is over, web 3.0 is going to suck.
This kind of technology is not that new. Not too long ago I read somewhere that during the 90’s or somewhere like that, there was a computer Bot with some AI that wrote a whole book. It was obviously not perfect, but pretty advanced for its time.
OhCash Business
“Michael Atherton”?
Are you a closet cricket fan?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Atherton
Well, at least it tells cute jokes.
me:joke
michael: Two aliens arrive on the earth soon after it has been devastated by nuclear fallout. All that is left are the buildings, and of course the cockroaches. The one alien turns to the other and says: Fuck, did they build all of this?
So if your cybertwin has cybersex and your wife/husband finds out, is it considered cheating?
wow! I can’t wait to pay $20 a month to use this.
I decided to have a little fun with the program:
You: GigaOm is much better!
michael: Is it really, I would never have known that
You: Malik kicks your ass.
michael: That is an interesting viewpoint.
You: Yes, it is an interesting viewpoint.
michael: I’m sure it is, but because I am a mycybertwin I cannot truly know
You: I hear that you have run out of interesting ideas to blog about.
michael: What makes you think I have?
You: This post.
michael: It is? Thats an interesting observation.
You: I am king of observations.
michael: Thanks for telling me that about yourself. i like getting to know you.
You: I see you haven’t been trained to capitalize your “I’s”.
michael: You are very perceptive.
You: You are very one-dimensional.
michael: Well, you are the first person to tell me that about myself in exactly that way.
You: The press has been telling you that for a while.
michael: Oh really? Ok then i will have to pass that information onto michael, they will find it very interesting
You: So, Michael now refers to himself as more than one person?
michael: Right now? I’m not sure that’s possible
You: Stumped you! Ha!
michael: Good that i amuse you.
I think this will be interesting thing to play.
The thing needs work… see my chat log here:
http://www.myotherwebsites.com.....at-log.jpg
your clone is a jerk
Wonder if this has some simple business applications, such as the “Live Customer Support” button that’s essentially a bot that discusses FAQs. It could come into play after hours, when the reps have gone home.
$20/ month for something that is what? java? .. I dont understand why it would be a perpetual payment …
-RB
Reviving the old Eliza programs of the 1970s…? Cute. But not exactly newsworthy. I think I have a TRS-80 BASIC version somewhere in the basement.
Sheez… yet another bit of evidence for the the Web 2.0 Narcissism trend.
Just a quick excerpt:
You: i want to poop on your face, dude.
michael: Appetite, with an opinion of attaining, is called hope; the same without such opinion is called depair - Thomas Hobbes
He saw through me - into my frigging soul.
This is some good software.
Here’s how it started - ended up as a loop. Mysterious!
You: What’s up, dude!
michael: I think you already know what is!
You: No
michael: oh
You: hehe
michael: OK, so how would you interpret that from my perspective?
You: which?
michael: Hmm. I haven’t thought about things that way before.
You: how are you?
michael: Good. What’s up?
Is it just me or is it suspicious that it requires my email address to chat with this thing? Am I going to be starting a pen pal relationship with your clone?
There are even typos from your cyber twin:
michael: Ok, I will. No wait, I willt hink about it.
I wonder if they did that on purpose, of it Mike trained it into his twin.
I liked these:
You: what is 1+1?
michael: 2. Haven’t you gone to school yet?
and:
You: did you screw Sam Sethi?
michael: no i didn’t, not yet.
You: Hi Michael can i sleep with ur wife
michael: You can do most things if you set your mind to it. My question is: why do you want to?
You: Just to have some fun
michael: Mmm.
You: Can I
michael: You probably can. Can you tell me why it is you want to?
You: You know it dont you
michael: I didn’t know that, thansk for telling me.
You: so yes or no
michael: Any other alternatives?
He s a Funny and dumb chap !!!
You: wen were u born?
michael: That is an interesting viewpoint.
You: wen r u planning to die?
michael: You sound very confident about that.
You: BTW wats the time in ur watch
michael: Go on…
You: How do I convert “Go on..” into GMT ?
michael: You have an intriguing way of putting things.
michael: I am sure you will, but it begs the question: WHY?
You: DUn BEG early in the morning man
michael: Can you say that again, in a different way?
You: I knw only one way ..Sorry honey
michael: Don’t be sorry, there is no need.
You: ok if you insist
michael: Hmm… I’m not sure what to say.
You: then ask ur master
michael: And what happened after that ?
You: he ll tell you wat to say
You: After that jack n Jill went up the hill
Hmm, a web 2.0 version of Eliza.. how cute..
Eliza: What makes you think I am cute?
Damn, there she goes again…
This technology is still in beta..and people are expecting everything like it was a release 10.0.
where is see is a niche for this technology,when it is to a level complete..is in bot-run customer support centers….where this automated bots will respond to the customer queries .
the reason this is possible..is that even in current scenario…where a real person answers a query..the csr is actually referring to a knowledgebase and answering using a pre-written script…
there is a very small element of human-intelligence used to find out the righ answer from the knowledge base…if this bot can be used to replicate this reasoning power…then we can as well use this bots to automatically answer customer queries…. the real-trick is that hte bot should be so refined that the customer on the other side should not realize that he is being answered / serviced by an automatic bot..
i wonder if people see a point here..or is it just me.
You: yo homie
michael: For the LOVE OF GOD, please leave me ALONE!
You: no ni**a
michael: Oh you don’t want to ? That’s ok
You: What? that didnt make any sense
michael: No? Are you sure ?
You: yes
michael: Yeah
You: what the hell
michael: I am a new AI. It’s easier for me to learn the usual dorkus boring stuff, not the interesting things you are saying.
You: what ht hell
michael: Whatever you want. Within reason.
You: that doesnt make any sense
michael: That? I wouldn’t have guessed. Tell me more.
what the….
@Free Web Meeting:
I think you make some important points about potential uses of the technology — the only caveat is that its very different to take something that kinda parrots back what you throw at it, based on some personality parameters, vs. building something that has a semantic understanding of a particular area, and then can meld that into conversations..
Not a simple problem to solve, and even tougher to scale that into open contexts…
And to take it even further, I’m not even sure that this would be a good approach from a usability perspective..do people really prefer natural language queries over google search (all the hoopla over Powerset notwithstanding)
Capt Picard: Fire the torpedoes
Computer: OK, I have done that, and sent them 2 months of salary in severance as well.
Capt Picard: No Dammit, I mean FIRE the torpedoes.
Computer: I’ll have to re-hire them to fire them..
*Sound of Enterprise exploding*
Vijay,
the example you gave was good funny..
true..the technology is not matured yet…and it is really difficult to match through a machine the iq of even a 2 year kid…
so while it is not possible to have a intelligence based system…what can really be tried out is a …rules based inference system..which can actually answer queries from a knowledge base…
just my thoughts…
Wow, I never though that someone could turn an exact ripoff of Eliza into a Web2.0 company… One of the first programs to be run over ARPANET too…
I shouldn’t have entered my email address …. Damn.
http://mycybertwin.com/privacypolicy.jsp
MYCYBERTWIN may disclose personal information to other companies in the RelevanceNow Group that may only use it as set out above.
MYCYBERTWIN may also provide your information to:
· third parties engaged by MYCYBERTWIN to perform functions on its behalf, such as processing credit card information, mailouts, debt collection, marketing, research and advertising
· third parties authorised by you to receive information held by MYCYBERTWIN
· other third parties, as required by law
Michael, this is scary man! I love your sense of things though.
He is not only evil, he is *stupid*!
You: I just got home from work.
michael: Do you?
You: Yeah, I do.
michael: Oh you agree? That’s great jordan!
Someone should have their bot set up automatically to respond to Mike’s bot. It would be funny to see the two retarded bots go at it for hours.
Not too smart:
You: hey man
michael: Yeah?
You: whats new
michael: not much. what’s up?
You: i did your mom last night
michael: Thanks for that info about you.
You: did you do her too?
michael: Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. Depends who’s asking
That was a good laugh– When I said I love my wife, you asked me “Do you have a lot of things like that?”
You: Hi, how are you?
michael: Good. What’s up?
You: Just going out to dinner later tonight
michael: Mmm.
You: what are you doing tonight?
michael: What? Take a guess, I would like to hear what you think!
You: Eating German?
michael: I like different types of food, I go through phases. What food phase are you in now?
You: Poo
michael: Hmm. Interesting perspective.
You: I think so, what about you?
michael: You have clear thoughts.
You: You are ugly
michael: Do you like ugly things?
You: I love them
michael: What else do you love?
You: My wife
michael: Do you have a lot of things like that?
You: I only have one wife.
michael: May I pass that info about you onto the real michael?
You: Do you want to get together this weekend?
michael: Can I have some time to think about that? OK. done. No
You: Why not?
michael: Why not indeed.
You: Why not?
michael: Why not? It might get me into trouble if I went all the way with that.
You: Your feet smell bad
michael: Mine? Why do you think that?
You: All men over six feet tall have smelly feet
michael: Are you sure of that?
You: it is proven.
michael: Is it really, that’s very good to know Josh
You: How many wives do you have?
michael: Many, but I wasn’t keeping track. How many would you guess?
You: 17
michael: Thanks for telling me you are 17. How would you describe yourself in one word?
You: hot
michael: Unfortunately, you might need to get yourself another human, or some sort of appliance to deal with that. I am only an AI version of a real human.
michael: You are more complex than most humans I talk to as an AI. To help me achieve elegant simplicity, you can describe what you would change, then say the word s TEACHMCYBERTWIN
Sorry. Just had to post this. I don’t know why but I loved it and laughed hysterically.
You: what are you doing online so late?
michael: What? A bit of this and a bit of that.
You: like what?
michael: jokes.
You: you’re doing jokes online?
michael: Aha. What makes you say that about me?
You: Because you told me you were doing jokes online.
michael: Well, you are the first person to tell me that about myself in exactly that way.
You: Thanks. I think.
michael: That’s interesting.
You: It’s really not.
michael: Is it really, that’s very good to know Jenn
You: Wow you know my name. That’s great.
michael: Thanks Jenn, I try.
You: You’re funny michael.
michael: Thanks! You are fun too.
You: Are you hitting on me?
michael: I don’t hit on anyone. I am only a CyberTwin, I have no impulses in that way.
[I thought this was funny, feel free to delete if perhaps the sentiment is not shared]
You: hi
michael: What do you want now?
You: to sleep
michael: ok bye
You: didn
You: t work
michael: If you get bored and want to ask me about anything, just ask.
michael: none of your business
You: does it hurt to smile like that
michael: What would be the implications if it does?
You: that your animitronic or prone to subdural face injections
michael: That? I wouldn’t have guessed. Tell me more.
You: you see most disney employees are very very sad, so they inject their face with a happy mixture of sympathogens and algesics
michael: Yeah? Why do you say that?
You: because I work for disney and I know that smile…mine hurts
michael: Hmm. I haven’t thought about things that way before.
You: well maybe you should be more careful with whom you let plow your face with drugs
michael: Anthing can happen, I suppose.
You: you’re so very insightful, you remind me of my friend eliza
michael: Am I so? And you are not?
You: no sadly I am not
michael: Oh, I got it wrong then. What are you?
You: you got it right
michael: I try and think before I reply, not like some people.
You: clearly
michael: That is an interesting viewpoint.
You: thank you I thought so as well
michael: welcome
You: welcome
michael: You have an intriguing way of putting things.
You: zao ze tse doh
michael: You have an intriguing way of putting things.
You: t t
michael: Tell me your other thoughts about that.
You: t t
michael: That’s one way of looking at it. What is another way?
You: I’m not sure I get what you mean michael: Oh I think you know more than you know
michael: You do?
You: how many are you?
michael: Who is this other michael, I am the only true michael!
michael: That’s a very good question, I may have to ask the real michael and get back to you
You: will anyone else ever read this I wonder?
michael: Does it matter?
You: I’m vain so yes
michael: Thanks for telling me that about yourself. i like getting to know you.
You: Some chardonnay and chivalry will get you all you want cybertwin
michael: Only some?
You: oooh demanding
michael: I like the way you talk.
You: I know you know I know that you know that I know you like the way I talk
michael: What else doyou know about me?
You: not much just whatever else you have posted here in your aff profile
michael: Thats very exciting. Couldn’t you change that into something?
You: toodles tea cakes sleep beckons
michael: thank God this conversation is finally over
You: I can tell by that sparkle in your eye this has only just begun
michael: I believe you can, if you really wanted to sal herschberg.
its new but wat i feel is it wont be a hit…dats fr sure…..
You: you look happy
michael: Do I really heather?
You: yes, aren’t you?
michael: I don’t know that yet. What do you think the answer should be?
You: “no, absolutely not, i am talking to you.”
michael: Thanks for telling me that about yourself. i like getting to know you.
You: that’s sweet
michael: Thanks for clearing that up.
You: you are welcome. so how is the weather?
michael: Cool, with an approaching front.
You: well, it was nice chatting with you. have a fucking fabulous day!
michael: I haven’t been asked that before. What do you think [CLIENT-NAME]?
You: i dont understand
michael: I am a new clone of michael, and am still learning. You talk in a complex and unique way.
You: Thank you for that compliment
michael: welcome
You: you reply so quickly. how do you do that?
michael: I do it slightly differently every time.
You: yes, true.
michael: Oh you agree? That’s great heather!
You: i know!
michael: Oh, I didn’t mean to tell you something you already know.
You: well you did. how bout that
michael: I am not sure how. What are your thoughts?
You: I have a lot of thoughts, actually. Like, i gotta go. thanks for the quick chat. VERY ENTERTAINING. bye.
michael: thank God this conversation is finally over
What a great idea. I’d like to set up two personalities, one good, one EVIL.
Now this is a good idea. Expect lots of clones soon.
When we let our cybertwins do the communication, we are not needed for anything here.