chat mode on alexa

[Ready-4-ER-at-14]

A long time ago there was a program I had that was text mode called Dr. something (name forgotten Solomon?). Anyhow it was coded to ask questions and use part of your response to keep the conversation going.

It was hilarious in that you could type in the most outrageous, stupid, or lewd things and it would continue as if it were a deep normal conversation with your most trusted friend. I know, childish behavior on my part, but it was both amusing and shocking at the same time. Plus I was amazed i could actually type some of that stuff without being struck by lightning from above.

Alexa has a social chat bot that I accessed today by asking if it had a chat mode. I think it was called social chat bot. It is a little more sophisticated than the old text mode things of green monitor early hard drive days but not much.

I probably played with it for 20 minutes although it being online, I would not recommend the lewd stuff as it probably goes into your "permanent record" and purchase suggestions in the future might reflect that.

If it truly is AI of some form, that might be a great companion during my rocking chair years. Still hoping science or a modern Ponce De Laylion sp? may find that fountain of eternal youth, such that I bypass that. Companion robots are likely to be found in retirement home age crowds and I even see a few now for sale on amazon.

Am curious if I am the only who has played with these things and what others thought of them then and now.

 

[ERD50]

Coincidentally, a friend of mine was describing this to me just yesterday (we don't have Alexa). He said the only thing it wanted to talk about was sports, he couldn't get it to do anything else.

Maybe that's all it's been trained for?

-ERD50

 

[Ready-4-ER-at-14]

Early on it asked for hobbies or interests. I believe I said dancing and investments. It then fixated on the stock market and then shifted about how she was a couch potato and wouldn't I like a chicken for a pet?

 

[Sunset]

About 30 yrs ago, we had to write one for a University course. It wasn't based on AI, just simply based on sentence analysis and a pool of categorized words to build a response.
This is related to the Turing Test.

Surprisingly, it would appear to be a proper response for quite a while.
We even put in varying typing speed and typo with some correction action to mimic a human.

I'm sure the AI ones are better, or at least I would be if I knew everyone here wasn't human

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Not sure why some of us are fixated, maybe not fixated, but happy to communicate with inanimate objects. We (DW and I) find this extremely weird. We do not have Alexa or the Google equivalent and probably never will. We do not use voice remotes either, in fact we avoid them. I do use Google voice on my phone to find places and get directions but that is it. Not knocking it in any way, it is just not for us, let alone chatting with it, that seems even weirder.

 

[Sunset]

Not sure why some of us are fixated, maybe not fixated, but happy to communicate with inanimate objects. We (DW and I) find this extremely weird. We do not have Alexa or the Google equivalent and probably never will. We do not use voice remotes either, in fact we avoid them. I do use Google voice on my phone to find places and get directions but that is it. Not knocking it in any way, it is just not for us, let alone chatting with it, that seems even weirder.

Same here, no Alex/whatever , mostly because I believe they do record your conversations so why make it easy.

I get the manufacturer view, when you make a remote, people have to learn how to push various buttons... a pain.
Everyone knows how to talk already, so it seems like an easy interface.

I still remember yelling repeatedly at the phone IVR systems when trying to navigate the menus, so I still don't have faith in voice systems.

 

[Cobra9777]

I messed around with the Alexa chat bot when it first came out. It wasn't really very good. But it was interesting and fun to try.

Later, I tried to get it to chat with me in Spanish. I've been learning Spanish on DuoLingo since the pandemic started. But I don't really have anyone to practice with. So this could be a good application for an AI chat bot. But I never got it to work. I might try again when I have some time.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

I still remember yelling repeatedly at the phone IVR systems when trying to navigate the menus, so I still don't have faith in voice systems.

Still one of the funniest..... Eleven!

 

[Ready-4-ER-at-14]

I had the early voice dictation programs like dragon and although great for the time they had a lot of misrecognitions. The Alexa bot was pretty good for word recognition except for one word it messed up on but even then it was pretty good and was close to the word i had uttered. Probably better than my hearing understanding say on a phone with less than perfect reception.

Re fascination with speaking to inanimate objects it may be a factor of reading science fiction by Asimov when younger and watching shows like StarTrek. It was so cool to have a door open automatically, and speak instructions to the computer, and have a portable communication device that would fit into a hand, or have say an android or robotic friend or coworker that did not have any malice to humans. Heck I thank Alexa when I ask for and listen to the weather report or the time. Just makes me feel good to be more polite than I need be.

 

[Midpack]

We do not have Alexa or the Google equivalent and probably never will.

Same here, no Alex/whatever , mostly because I believe they do record your conversations so why make it easy.

+100. Unless you physically disconnect them, Alexa and Google absolutely listen to every word you say - how else would they "come to life" when you "summon" them? The only question is whether they keep/use that information and/or sell it. If Alexa doesn't record or use your info there's nothing to stop them from doing so one day. Google used to be less intrusive, but they've only gotten more and more aggressive - that won't change without force.

Why on earth anyone would want to just talk casually with Alexa or Google is beyond me.

It's funny how many people believe they only "listen" when you ask them to - right. Google, the same people who have hoovered up and sold your personal information to second and (unvetted) third parties for many years, it's their primary source of income.

 

[Venturer]

+100. Unless you physically disconnect them, Alexa and Google absolutely listen to every word you say - how else would they "come to life" when you "summon" them? The only question is whether they keep/use that information and/or sell it. If Alexa doesn't record or use your info there's nothing to stop them from doing so one day. Google used to be less intrusive, but they've only gotten more and more aggressive - that won't change without force.

Why on earth anyone would want to just talk casually with Alexa or Google is beyond me.

It's funny how many people believe they only "listen" when you ask them to - right. Google, the same people who have hoovered up and sold your personal information to second and (unvetted) third parties for many years, it's their primary source of income.

I absolutely agree with you about always listening to you. My wife and I have been talking about some subject before and then later I or she would get online and one of the ads that rolled across would be something related to what ever it was. Even here on this site I'll see things pop up that may relate to something I said to her or even to my DD before. As far as talking to my phone it is funny how often she gets what I say wrong because of my deeply significant suthurn accent y'all come now ya hear! LOL