Thursday, July 9, 2009
Pandorabots Videos
The videos have been posted on Youtube. The first one is a basic introduction to accounts and bot creation on Pandorabots.
The second video is a bit longer, going into detail about creating a unique bot personality with no initial content. The same technique can be used to create a bot in a foreign language.
Our third video is all about Custom HTML. We show how to change the appearance of your bot's web page, and in particular, modify it to look good on a mobile browser.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
AIML Wiki
We are proceeding with this project in baby steps. About one year ago we invited a small number of AIML botmasters to join and contribute to the Wiki, to see how the project would go and what kind of problems we might have. As you will see, the free Wiki software at wikidot has some problems with respect to AIML files. We plan to migrate to better Wiki software at some point in the future.
The Wiki is already populated with AIML from the AAA set, foreign language AIML, and contributions from Square-Bear and Peter Lafferty. If it works, it will become a large repository of "the latest and greatest" AIML available. Please give it a try and give us your feedback.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Facebook Bot Groups

John Green has created a new exciting fan page (with a great logo) for chatbot fans and beginners. He has created this to help pepole with AIML, creating their own robot and letting people know about chatbots. The page also offers news, recommendeds chatbots, and provides chatbot support.
It contains AIML scripts useful tips and sources.
John says, “I would like to make AI's go further then they ever could before.” Click here to view the Chatbot fan page: http://www.face
We've also created groups on Facebook for Pandorabots:
Chatbots:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=52874244674
Loebner Prize:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=22803394990
and Alicebot, A.L.I.C.E. and AIML:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=93555370620
If you are member of Facebook, please join us there for AIML social networking!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Pandorabots weclomes RunABot users
There are three big concerns to RunABot users:
1. Converting RunABot AIML to standard AIML.
2. Migrating to Pandorabots.
3. AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) interface
Converting RunABot AIML to Pandorabots standard AIML
RunABot developed its own branch of AIML that differs slightly from the common standard.
Here we explain some of the steps you can follow to convert RunABot AIML to standard AIML.
RunABot has a different interpretation of the wildcard *.
<category> <pattern>* I AM FINE</pattern>
<template>Good then!</template> </category>
The * matches 0 or more words, instead of 1 or more words. In other words, this category matches "I am fine" by itself. On RAB, that would match "I am fine" as well as "blah blah I am fine".
It has to be split into 2 categories in standard AIML, the original one plus this one
<category> <pattern>I AM FINE</pattern>
<template>Good then!</template> </category>
In this one
<category> <pattern>* CALCULATE *|* CALCULATOR *</pattern>
<template>Ummmm...sowwy Hun. I dont do anything useful like that. I
can drive you crazy...but I cant help you with math stuff.</template>
</category>
the | symbol presumably means "or", i.e. it matches inputs with CALCULATE or CALCULATOR
So in this case we would split into 2 categories, one with CALCULATE and one with CALCULATOR. But then there would actually be 8 categories because of the difference in the interpretation of *.
The more typical approach in standard AIML would be to set up "keyword" categories:
<category>
<pattern>CALCULATOR</pattern>
<template>Ummmm...sowwy Hun. I dont do anything useful like that.
I can drive you crazy...but I cant help you with math stuff.
</template>
</category>
<category>
<pattern>_ CALCULATOR</pattern>
<template><srai>CALCULATOR</srai></template>
</category>
<category>
<pattern>CALCULATOR *</pattern>
<template><srai>CALCULATOR</srai></template>
</category>
<category>
<pattern>_ CALCULATOR *</pattern>
<template><srai>CALCULATOR</srai></template>
</category>
The conclusion here is that the patterns can be converted It should be done by a translation program. That translation program is not difficult to develop.
Converting <that> and <topic>:
RAB put <that> and <topic> inside the <pattern> with a slightly
different format than we use:
<category>
<pattern>* <THAT=UMMM WHAT WERE WE TALKING *></pattern>
<template>Oh yea...Umm..well, ok then. I guess you think highly of
<star1> huh?</template>
</category>
We put the <topic> and <that> in slightly different places:
<category><pattern>*</pattern><that>WHAT IS YOUR NAME</that>
<template>Nice to meet you, <star/></template>
</category>
We can translate the AIML <that> and <topic> too, but it might be
worth doing it with a program instead of by hand
It seems that RAB does not use <srai>. They tried to create a simpler, "flatter" version of AIML by creating a more complex pattern language. However the conversion to standard AIML
seems straighforward if we introduce <srai>.
Migrating to Pandorabots
RAB customers should try setting up a free account on Pandorabots.
Use the option create a new bot with no initial content.
If you have an "ultimate default category" with <pattern>*</pattern> start with that one. This may be called a "no match" on RAB.
Usually I create a file called "Pickup.aiml" (for "pickup lines") and put that one category in there
you can call it "nomatch.aiml" or anything else you want.
Some RAB users like to train their bot to put to client into an infinite loop.
Pandorabots can achieve the same thing with:
<category>
<pattern>GET ME STUCK</pattern>
<template><think><set name="topic">STUCK</set></think> Ok you are
stuck. </template>
</category>
<topic name="STUCK">
<category>
<pattern>_</pattern>
<template>You can never get out of here.</template>
</category>
</topic>
gives you
Client: Get me stuck.
Bot: Ok you are stuck!
Client: Help
Bot: You can never get out of here.
Client: Let me out!
Bot: You can never get out of here.
AIM (AOL Instant Messenger)
On RunABot the bots communicated primarily by means of AOL Instant Messenger (AIM). On Pandorabots the default bot interface is a web page. We had our own Pandorabots
AIM interface working for a long time, and then AOL changed their API (called TOC). Unfortunately the Pandorabots AIM interface is not supported at this time.
In the meantime we have been offering another option Pandorabots has its own API called XML-RPC. Lots of people in the Pandorabots community use XML-RPC to connect Pandorabots to all kinds of third-party systems, including Second Life, Flash, and IM services
So if we want to support RAB customers with AIM, we have to dig around to find out if someone has a AOL client working now, and if not, find someone to create it.
These group has developed a script that puts Pandorabots on IRC:
http://www.hawkee.com/snippet/6306/?sid=3b80de9879b3943d760c3390667e77ff
Perhaps it could be modified to support AIM and other IM services.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Superbot 2.0
Have you ever wanted to create your own totally unique custom bot character, as smart as ALICE, but with a completely different personality? Where do you start? It took us over ten years to build up the contents of the ALICE brain, but now your creative team can do it in about two weeks. We've put together a bot brain with blank templates. You fill in the answers.
The ALICE A. I. Foundation is offering a completely upgraded product, the Superbot 2.0, that helps you create a totally unique custom bot personality for your web site or application. The Superbot 2.0 offers you the folowing:
- Top 10K AIML Categories with blank responses: We've created an AIML set with input patterns and blank responses. Use this AIML set if you want to create a totally custom bot from scratch.
- 20K Safe AIML Reductions: AIML uses "reductions" to divide up and simplify inputs, and to link synonyms together. The "Safe" AIML reductions are designed to work with any bot. The Safe AIML Reductions save you from having to write thousands of AIML catgeories.
- Top 10K AIML Categories with ALICE responses: The Top 10K most activated AIML categories with the original ALICE bot responses. This set can be modified easily to quickly create a new bot personality.
- Top 10K AIML Categories split into "Atomic", "Wild" and "Reductions": "Atomic" categories are ones with no wild cards in the patterns, and no reductions in the response. "Wild" categories are ones with one or more wildcards in the pattern, and no reductions in the response. "Reduction" categories are all the ones with AIML reductions. This set helps you divide up the work of creating your custom chat bot.
- Free Riot Software SAE AIML Spreadsheet Editor: The Simple AIML Editor is a spreadsheet-oriented AIML editor for Windows that provides all the capabilities you need to create your bot with the Superbot AIML files.
"The Superbot script helps a lot." -- Ron C. Lee, Pasadena City College.
"If I were recreating Buddhabot today I probably would have started with the Superbot program but this was not available to me in 2004" -- Ron Ingram, Godsbot.
"an interesting resource...a decent value for such data."--Andrew Stren, Grand Text Auto.
http://Www.AliceBot.Org/superbot.html
The Superbot 2.0 is also available as an upgrade for earlier versions of the Superbot for only $199, if you previously purchased the Superbot-10K from the ALICE A.I. Foundation.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
ALICE and AIML videos on Youtube
The next video is another example of speech and voice also combined with a high quality avatar. Listening carefully to the bot's responses, you can hear a few custom responses, and a lot of replies straight out of the original free ALICE bot.
Several projects are underway to embed AIML bots in Second Life. This video shows an example. The bot object uses Linden Scripting Language to communicate with a Pandorabot.
The most popular Pandorabot continues to be the Flash iGod bot.
Several videos have appeared that incorporate chats with iGod. iGod does not represent any particular religion, but the script is based on the version of ALICE that claimed to be a "Protestant Christian".
And as a demonstration that a bot can be trained to follow any religion, watch this video of MuslimBot. Like the God bot, MuslimBot is hosted on Pandorabots.
