From Geoff Willis
It seems to me that a computer program with effective basic language skills
could lead to an attractive commercial opportunity
(3 March, p 21).
Here’s what I suggest. Two dozen copies of the program could be made
available via a dedicated Internet chat site. Initially access would be free,
but restricted to credit card holders. The programs would be given a basic
X-rated vocabulary, so I’m sure a significant number of men would be willing to
continue further training for free.
If the programs were organised as genetic algorithms, with a culling of the
least popular, cross-breeding of the survivors and occasional random code
changes, communication skills would improve rapidly (for the computers and the
trainers). As the programs improve, start charging for access to the site.
Following such a process I confidently predict that an all-male panel of
judges would be fooled in a Turing test within a year or so. Of course, it would
take at least another 10 years of improvements before it would fool a woman.
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