Ellaz Systems

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EllaZ Systems is a cooperative effort to explore the limits of natural language interaction with methods including conventional stimulus-response (chatbot), expert systems, and various programmatic processes. The result is a type of AI that EllaZ Systems calls "Artful Intelligence."

In international contests, Ella tied for 2nd in the 2001 Loebner Prize Contest, and won 1st in the 2002 Loebner Prize Contest. She also placed third overall and third in the functional category in the 2004 Chatterbox Challenge.

EllaZ Systems claims to have developed the most advanced natural language robot. The following features are all accessed with ordinary English input. They illustrate how flexible and efficient natural language interaction can be:

Functional Abilities: (relying on static data in the system)

Book Library and Reader

. . . "Show your book list."

. . . "Please open Steep Trails."

. . . "I need to go. Note that I am at the beginning of chapter 22."

Crossword puzzle help

. . . "What words match the pattern s=z==y?"

Country Information (CIA World Factbook)

. . . "Where is Zimbabwe?"

. . . "Tell me about the United Kingdom."

. . . "What is the capital of Georgia?"

Note Taking

. . . "Take a note: Must remember to debug state issues in EllaTalk.aspx"

. . . "Update my notes with the changes I made."

Trick Questions & Comments

. . . "Black is white."

. . . "How much is a billion divided by zero?"

. . . "Calculate the square root of minus two."

. . . "What color is purple rice?"

Unit Conversions

. . . "Convert 35 C into F."

. . . "Convert 4 light-years into miles."

. . . "How many gills are in a hogshead?"

Word Math

. . . "Calculate twelve to the power of minus two-thirds."

. . . "What is ten bakers dozen plus half a gross?"

. . . "Calculate seventy-seven over pi!"

. . . "How much is twenty fives?"

WordNet

. . . "What is the meaning of life?"

. . . "What words end with ant?"

. . . "Tell me the hyponyms of flower."

. . . "What are the hypernyms of fuchsia?"

Games:

Chess - next move suggestion, famous chess quotes (only for [AI Bush])
Blackjack - an expert systems dispenses advice as a human dealer would
Rock-Paper-Scissors - also known as "Roshambo"
Guess-the-Number - even simple games show the power of natural language interaction
Slot Machine - sound effects include calling out the symbols with appropriate intonations
I Ching (Yi Jing) - ancient source of fortune telling and advice

Convuns: (conversational units)

Fables . . . Do you have any fables about goats?"
Images . . . "I would like to see a picture of a yellow flower."
Jokes . . . "Tell me a joke about snakes and lawyers."
Limericks . . . "I want to hear one of your limericks."
Maxims & Proverbs . . . "Do you have any sayings about glory?"
Music . . . "Let me hear some music by Robby Garner."
Poetry . . . "Do you have another Emily Dickinson poem?"
Quotes . . . "How about one of your quotes?"
Tongue . . . Twisters "Let me hear a tongue twister."
Trivia . . . "I would like to hear some trivia about fish."

Interface: (web browser access)

88 "Ella" images used to express over 20 emotions
Audio player for Jokes, Limericks, and Poems
Change background tile color, or use default light blue
Citations and links to Convun content as available
Image captions
View selected operating variables, via button mouseover
Lyrics and descriptions for music, as available
Random talking tips, via button mouseover
Optionally remove large image display for slower connections
Screen saver mode - as requested or after being ignored

Learning:

Allows repeat when User includes "again" or "repeat" in input
Avoids repeating comments, Convuns, images via DB records
Remembers User information, notes, dialog on return (registered User)
Solicits and stores User name, age, marital status, career, interests
Uses recent conversation and User information to display images

Personality:

Based on the real-life Zhang Ying of Tianjin, China
Side-steps inevitable profane and sexual conversation
Utilize emotional expresses for game play results and elsewhere
Uses her unique functions and knowledge to converse smoothly

Web Services: (results displayed conversationally and in detailed tables)

Global Weather

. . . "What is it like in Paris, Texas?"

. . . "What is the temp in Tianjin?"

Currency Exchange Rates

. . . "How much Canadian money can I get with 2,000 Yuan?"

Precious Metal Prices

. . . "How much Platinum can $10,000 buy?"

Stock Values

. . . "What is the price of 200 shares of Microsoft, 200 GE, and 700 Xerox?"

Utilities: (miscellaneous conversation tools)

Correct common misspellings and typos in input
Normalize input by expanding contractions and abbreviations
Normalize input by translating emoticons
Recognize ALL-CAPS input and comment accordingly
Recognize non-English input
Recognize Pig Latin input, and reply in Pig Latin
Respond appropriately to knock-knock jokes from user

In addition to direct Convun requests, Convuns are used to stimulate and assist conversation, as in "Should I tell you a great joke about a father and son?" After presenting a Convun, Ella may ask if the User approves. The answers are used to build a profile of the User's interests, as in "Do you enjoy this type joke? I'd like to know." More detailed suggestions are possible also, such as "Would you like me to play a track entitled 'Beryllium Zinc 2.0' -- that was created by Black Monolith, with Robby Garner?"

Another development of EllaZ Systems' technology is an audio-only version that uses text-to-speech (TTS) and automatic voice recognition tools (not available on-line).

The intended effect of this large variety of possible natural language interaction is to make a User feel that a human-like conversation is being had with the system.

External links

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