You say: No, a history class. She says: Oh. Well, my course schedule says that this is Psychology 103. (She consults a piece of paper in her hand.) Yep, a class in the control of human behaviour. What do you think "the control of human behaviour" really means? You say: Something like Pavlov, I should think. She says: (She frowns.) I thought maybe it meant, like, propaganda or something. The course description didn't say very much. (She pauses.) Maybe its like hypnosis. Have you ever been hypnotized? You say: No, but I've always wanted to be. Or at least be able to do ti to oth She says: I was hypnotized once. We went to this club, my husband and I, and I went up on stage. I didn't think it worked, but my husband, he said that I was singing just like Madonna. I thought it was creepy when he said that, so I won't let anyone hypnotise me again. You say: Wow. And he wasn't kidding at all? She says: You had not noticed that the room had filled with students while you were talking to the woman. A voice from the front of the class says, "Welcome to Psychology 103..." The woman whispers to you, "Talk to you later," and turns in her seat to face the front of the class. You say, "Okay." and turn to listen to the professor as well. [Type RESTART to try again or QUIT to end] You say: restart She says: [This is an experimental simulation of a conversation with a person.] [This simulation is still under construction. ] [Please do not be surprised if it misbehaves. ] You enter a classroom. It is empty, except for a woman is sitting at one of the student's desks. There is a parka draped over the back of her chair. She speaks to you, "Hi. Are you looking for the psychology class?" You say: Yes. Is this it? She says: I think this is it. It doesn't start for a while. I wasn't sure how long it would take to get here on the bus, so I left early. You say: Where do you live? She says: I have to come all the way across town. Some day I'll get a car. (She smiles.) First, though, I have to get a better job. Do you think taking a psychology class will help? You say: It depends on what you are doing now! And if you follow this through to a degree-- it's tough to get a whole job based on one course. She says: I work for the city. I'm a secretary in the planning department. If you ever applied for a building permit or a zoning variance or anything like that, I handled your application. (She pauses.) What do you do? You say: I'm a student at MIT. She says: I guess we are both taking courses here so we can get the job of our dreams. You say: That's about the long and the short of it. She says: You had not noticed that the room had filled with students while you were talking to the woman. A voice from the front of the class says, "Welcome to Psychology 103..." The woman whispers to you, "Talk to you later," and turns in her seat to face the front of the class. You say, "Okay." and turn to listen to the professor as well. [Type RESTART to try again or QUIT to end] You say: restart She says: [This is an experimental simulation of a conversation with a person.] [This simulation is still under construction. ] [Please do not be surprised if it misbehaves. ] You enter a classroom. It is empty, except for a woman is sitting at one of the student's desks. There is a parka draped over the back of her chair. She speaks to you, "Hi. Are you looking for the psychology class?" You say: yes. is this it? She says: I think this is it. It doesn't start for a while. I wasn't sure how long it would take to get here on the bus, so I left early. You say: Well, you seem to have made it OK. She says: You had not noticed that the room had filled with students while you were talking to the woman. A voice from the front of the class says, "Welcome to Psychology 103..." The woman whispers to you, "Talk to you later," and turns in her seat to face the front of the class. You say, "Okay." and turn to listen to the professor as well. [Type RESTART to try again or QUIT to end] You say: quit She says: Please wait for a moment while I get that information... loading database quest. ............ Loading complete. Please wait for a moment while I get that information... loading database choice.db. .............. Loading complete. The Computer Says: Conversational Hypertext Access Technology Copyright (C) 1989-1996 Government of Canada, All Rights Reserved Welcome to our natural language information systems. CHAT and TIPS are an information retrieval technologies developed by Industry Canada. Please note that your interactions may be recorded for the purpose of improving these technologies. For information about CHAT, look at "http://debra.dgbt.doc.ca/chat/info.page.html" or use anonymous ftp to download the file "/pub/chat/info.page" from debra.dgbt.doc.ca or contact Thom Whalen: (613) 990-4683 There are CHAT information files available on the following topics: - AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) - Epilepsy - Alice (A simulated conversation) - Maur (A simulated conversation with a dragon) - Spectrum Management Program of Industry Canada - Career Planning There are TIPS information files on the following topics: - Sex Education (1994 Loebner Prize Winner) - Mystery Conversation (1995 Loebner Prize Competitor) Please specify which information file you would like: