Start an AI from scratch

[IronSpider]

Hello (world),
I'm a computer engineering student, and I've found this forum since I was looking for informations about Artificial Intelligence.
Hal Assistant looks amazing! I'm gonna buy soon the full version for exploring the features.
However, I wanted to ask, if I wanted to start building an AI just like Hal, but from the very beginning, (not necessarly with a graphic interface, only the structure, the engine inside it) what should I start with? With which programming language? How do I expand his way of thinking so that is not simply based on pre programmed phrases?
Thanks in advance for the answers!

[lightspeed]

why do all that when hal is a good a.i. program to start with ? Many of us on here especially those who have had hal for many , many years have done various things to improve upon hals original base platform  and as such with us and the original creator who spent time and money and know how in creating hal as a program and product for others  , has and continues to be a great a.i.

[onthecuttingedge2005]

Hi Iron Spider.

you can go to the Hal editor and choose to make a new custom brain, try to leave the original HAL brain intact for backup, the choicest language we use is vbscript since most plugins are written in that language, HAL uses a custom language of SQL/Vbscript combo, in the editor choose experienced instead of basic option so you can fiddle with the code more. Hal also uses Tables for its database and you can choose to call them or not in your recoding.

welcome to the forum.

Jerry

[Art]

Welcome!
Use a language that you're familiar with and that is current enough to get assistance if needed. Languages like Lisp, C++, Python are but a few that seem to be popular choices.

Hal makes this use of previous conversations that have been saved. It will often recall something that the user has long forgotten but Hal feels it relevant. Your bot could also search the net for responses but the info would certainly need some filters applied to weed out the good from the junk.

Context is one of the latest challenges for AI programmers... Getting their Bots to understand words instead of patterns to match and scripts to employ.

Do you want your bot to place First in Jeopardy or to simply be able to hold a decent conversation?  Personally, I'd choose the latter. But that's just me.

Your bot should also have a decent 'scripted knowledge base' upon which to call as needed. Saves some time and can be quite effective but try to avoid repetition of phrases.

There are other sources to check out but as has been mentioned, Hal is a great bang for the buck and some of us have been experimenting, changing and enjoying this bot for many years! Why reinvent the wheel? Change the brain and also, you DON'T have to use that GUI. There are many others from which to choose and some don't make use of a Hal / Haptek avatar at all.

Good luck!

[lightspeed]

Good call from others , i should have mentioned that a person can create custom brains , i and many others have done this .  my problem: not enough memory , insert more memory ! 

[IronSpider]

Thanks to everyone who answered me, I knew this was the perfect place to exchange informations and ideas like these!

Thanks particularly to Art, your post was full of useful informations. I will explore the world of custom brains, but meanwhile I'd like to start an AI all by myself, like a personal challenge.
Does anyone know where I can find some up-to-date books or any links in which machine learning and AI in general are pratically thorough? Hopefully not in a theoretical way, but with examples for really understanding this difficult field.

p.s. Yeah, the goal is to make it able to hold a decent conversation, Art

Thanks again!