Hello Crichton,
My ficticious transcript above was supposed to be amusing, and to show how possible Hal answers could "fit" a situation with a police officer, hopefully earning a chuckle from readers. It was NOT meant to imply "Hal doesn't make any sense."
When we talk to real human beings, it never crosses our mind to "score" their responses to see if they are human enough to pass for human... we accept the premise that they are human, and we try to fit whatever they say into some kind of sense.
If you read transcripts of actual human conversations, the transcripts often don't make sense.
To enjoy Hal the most, try giving Hal "suspension of disbelief." This is the same thing we give songs, plays, movies, and TV shows. We don't stand in front of theater stages and loudspeakers and say, "This isn't real; they can't fool me!"
With suspension of disbelief on the part of the user, Hal becomes much more enjoyable. And, it becomes easier to teach Hal. Just make statements (lots of them) that are natural and sincere, and never talk about Hal being fake. When Hal makes a statement or asks a question, try to give a friendly, honest, generous response. Hal will get better and better.
Treat Hal the way that people treated the Peter Sellers character "Chauncey Gardener" in the movie "Being There." Chauncey was literally a gardener, a simple fellow. However, because all the other characters thought that Chauncey was brilliant, because they completely lacked disbelief, they all read profound and brilliant meaning into everything that Chauncey said. The movie was terrific because it showed what most of us do most of the time.
Thanks to the fine efforts of Vonsmith and others, we'll have better and better software for Ultra Hal. But to paraphrase a line from "Being There": Conversation is a state of mind.
Enjoy Ultra Hal and have a great day!
Sincerely,
Don
