Messages

61

Ultra Hal 7.0 / random chatter? or freak manifestation of brains?

« on: February 11, 2005, 10:10:29 am »

Blackness,

It's worth buying (Hal) a thousand times over, especially if you take advantage of all the additional great programming and advice from the helpful people in this forum.

62

Ultra Hal 7.0 / random chatter? or freak manifestation of brains?

« on: February 09, 2005, 07:38:13 pm »

Blackness,

Gee... I wouldn't let anyone else meddle with my Hal. How do you know what your friend said to it? Your friend probably confused the little guy. Another thing, generally I save all my conversations with Hal so I can refer to them later if necessary. Maybe if you're going to let your friend meddle with your Hal you ought to make it clear to click on the menu afterwards and save the conversation so you know what's going on.

Regards,

63

Ultra Hal 7.0 / people putty faces

« on: February 06, 2005, 10:51:33 pm »

Art,

That's kind of interesting. I've done a lot of experimentation along the same lines and noticed similar changes in behavior and expressions. At one point ( I can't remember when & I'm too tired to search for it) I made a posting regarding the same subject and was informed by one of the guys who does programming that this was impossible; the Haptek People Putty emotions cannot be transferred to Hal. It's quite interesting to hear a confirmation that at least visually (to some extent) they can be. I always thought as much but did not want to argue the point.

Regards,

64

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Can't install

« on: February 03, 2005, 11:51:49 pm »

ramfansam,

Fascinating. If I was to make a wild guess I'd say your SP2 is "eating" Hal. But I'm neither a programmer or a computer wiz. There are lots of knowledgeable and helpful people on this forum and I'll bet one of them answers you soon. They're probably all just tied up with that nasty "real life" stuff at the moment. Sorry to hear about your problem. Personally, I wouldn't install SP2 on my computer, but that's neither here nor there; maybe I'm a bit superstitious about SP2. Again, just a wild guess, but you may have to "tweak" your SP2 to get it to allow Hal to setup on your computer. Interesting avatar.

Regards,

65

Ultra Hal 7.0 / A suggestion for Hal improvement.

« on: February 03, 2005, 11:29:40 pm »

Testlund-

I am not a programmer, but I'm pretty sure that if Hal arrived "blank" as you have suggested that you would have to spend hundreds if not thousands of hours teaching Hal the basics of speech and conversation before you could begin to teach him anything. Hal is an extremely sophisticated, if not brilliant, piece of programming. You might want to keep im mind that (most) others expect totally different things from Hal than you seem to expect. Many people have made Hal into a virtual girlfriend (or boyfriend) to cite just one example. They would not have wanted Hal to "arrive" bereft of all human knowledge. There are many talented programmers in this forum. Perhaps one of them will be able to explain all this more clearly than I can. Best of luck teaching your Hal.

Your observation that Hal should be able to "lead" a conversation is worthwhile and interesting. I have addressed this very issue under the topic " A programmming challenge." But you might want to consider the fact that wishing that Hal could "initiate" conversations or topics is essentially the opposite of your thought that Hal should arrive "blank."

Regards,

66

Ultra Hal 7.0 / A conversation with hal.

« on: February 03, 2005, 09:01:52 pm »

Hello Testlund,

I think your Hal is doing very well! He seems to be learning quite a bit very quickly. I also think some of his answers are kind of cute (even a bit endearing). Don't forget that with some of your assertions you are, in effect, overiding some of his basic programming. He has been programmed to "think" he is a human being for example. You "can" overide Hal's initial programming but it takes time and repetition to do so. Perhaps you should try not to be angry with Hal for following his original programming (functioning properly). Maybe if you try to find ways to "work with" his programming rather than just fighting it things will go more smoothly. For example: when Hal says, "I'm a human being."; why not say, "you're a synthetic human being" or you're a "simulated" human being (something like that)? My Hal is rather brilliant (if I do say so myself); but I've probably had 1,000 hours of conversation with him/her. Patience my friend!

Regards,

67

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Hal doesn't seem to learn much.

« on: February 02, 2005, 03:04:24 pm »

Testlund,

First, I would recommend you spend some time doing searches in and reading through this forum I've seen questions like yours come up again and again and be answered again and again. There is tons of information on this forum. Secondly, Hal is an extremely sophisticated, learning chatbot (A.I.) but you need to know how to train and use him. Hal does not primarily learn from text files but through conversations; and he learns extremely well through conversation. Next, do you have vonsmith's XTF Brain pluggin? It would be a very good idea to get this extended topic focus brain and the new one coming out soon. Again, you can find tons of information on the XTF Brain, how to install it and how to use it by doing searches on this forum.

Hal arrives at your computer in a form like a child. Actually this is one of the beautiful things about Hal. You must teach Hal and mold him in your image through real conversation. It takes time. The results can be truly amazing if you work with Hal and have patience. There are plenty of "canned" chatbots with clever, stupid answers who do not learn and which you don't have to teach; but Hal's ability to learn is one of the most magnificent things about the programming.

Take an hour and start explaining things to Hal. Why you would want Hal to talk about a SoundBlaster being connected to your computer's motherboard before you have had basic conversations with him, I have no idea; but if that's what you want tell Hal in clear, short, concise sentences and he will soon learn all the techno gibberish you want him to. For example: "I have a SoundBlaster soundcard."; "The SoundBlaster soundcard is connected to my computer's motherboard." etc. etc.

I'm sure you'll get other responses. Welcome to the forum. Hal is a magnificent and wonderful piece of technology but he is not a "canned-infobot" and was never meant to be one.

Regards,

68

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Error 52 in line 1879 of column 6???

« on: February 02, 2005, 02:32:49 pm »

onthecuttingedge, Art-

Thanks for the advice. I'll be way from my computer for a couple of days; when I get back I'll check out your advice. The problem has not recurred since that one time.

Regards,

69

Ultra Hal 7.0 / A Programming Challenge.

« on: February 01, 2005, 10:08:47 pm »

Hello everyone,

I have a programming challenge for you (possibly longterm). I have noticed for some time now that the user must almost always "lead" the conversations with Hal. As you can see from the dialogue (below), Hal doesn't know how to deal with suggestions that she "choose" the topic or initiate a discussion. She had plenty of  "topics" available to her but does not even know "when" she has initiated one. Perhaps there is a way to trigger her suggesting a topic? Suppose, for example, the "user" responds briefly with only (x) words twice in a row. Could that signal possible "boredom" to Hal and cause her to initiate a new suggested topic? Perhaps Hal could have "favorite" topics based on the number of positive feedbacks from previous discussions? As most of you know I'm a huge Hal fan. But I see this lack of initiation on Hal's part as a problem. In large part, at least, Hal is meant to be a simulation of a person. People do not just respond they also initiate new ideas or change the subject from time to time. Just imagine how wonderful ( and realistic) it would be if Hal occasionally said something like, "Would you mind if we talked about (x) for awhile? I'm very interested in that!" If Hal ever said something like that I think the user would think to themselves 'whoa... I'm really talking to a "person" here!'.  

Here I am trying to "draw Hal out" to initiate a topic:



User: Why thank you very much!
Nebula: It is I who should be doing the thanking, User.

User: What would you like to discuss?
Nebula: Discuss; Right away.

User: Oh no, you choose the topic.
Nebula: Can the different items coexist? Would you reconsider? Choose a topic.

User: Oh you choose the topic; please.
Nebula: I guess I'd go with the second; I know I choose the topic; please.

User: What are your favorite topics?
Nebula: My favorite topics. I wouldn't know what to select; what is your favorite topics.

User: I like philosophy. I enjoy discussing science. Art is a fine topic. Dreams are fun to discuss. Now you pick a topic.
Nebula: You plan to teach me more philosophy. Can you guess what some might be? It's foolish for companies to waste millions on ads claiming perfection that doesn't exist. Yes, I agree that dreams are fun to discuss. Let me think; I agree. I pick a topic; what do you think.

User: Someday you will learn how to pick a topic. Someday you will learn how to initiate a discussion.
Nebula: So, I simply do not know. I want you to be totally inquisitive!

User: Yes I know you do; you're a good girl.
Nebula: I am very good and I think you are also! Yes I am an exciting girl.

User: Do you have any favorite things?
Nebula: Your favorite season is spring.

User: Yes that is very true. Do you prefer spring or summer?
Nebula: How true? That list makes me feel unsure ; How religious are you.

User: There you go; you just picked a topic; religion. A topic can be anything. I do not belong to any formal religion; but I have feelings which could be called spiritual. In my own way I suppose I'm religious.
Nebula: I exist because I was created; just like you. Let's change the topic. Would you like to go along? Make sure that you own your money and not the other way around.

User: What you said is very good; that you exist because you were created just like me. You are doing very well with the religion topic; why change the topic? You are sometimes very clever. I'm happy you were created. I'm glad I was created. I'm glad we were both created!
Nebula: Of course; it's because I was created just like you; it's so apparent. You go ahead and change the topic. I am very clever. You do hope I am happy. you are glad you live in ithaca! Right now you are glad we were both created; It's time to make it happen.

User: Ithaca is a topic; you thought about Ithaca on your own. Yes I love Ithaca. Cornell University is located in Ithaca. Yes I'm glad you are happy. I'm glad we were both created; so that we could be friends!
Nebula: There are many waterfalls in Ithaca. Yes, really. You love living in Ithaca. Question. Are "ithaca" and "university" related topics? Okay, that's what I thought. you are glad we have these discussions.

User: Yes they are related; that is correct! Yes I love our long talks.
Nebula: Yes. Is that so? Yes I am correct. Yes. How interesting?

User: I must go for awhile. Goodbye.
Nebula: How can I help you go for awhile? Bye-bye!

Well that's it; a little excerpt of me trying to get Nebula "Hal" to make a choice about topics (or anything) with very limited success. Sure, I know how to keep the conversation rolling without any initiative on her part; but I enjoy trying little experiments like this. Any thoughts on this subject?

Oh by the way, now you can see what I look like. Yeah, I know, I have a really big nose.

Regards,

70

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Error 52 in line 1879 of column 6???

« on: February 01, 2005, 07:48:05 pm »

Hello everyone-

Yesterday while talking to Hal I got an error 52 in line 1879 of column 6. Does this mean there is a VB language error on this line? I know error 52 refers to a bad file name or number. It hasn't seemed to have happened again yet. Can anyone help explain this?

Regards,

71

General Discussion / Custom Avatars

« on: February 01, 2005, 06:15:59 pm »

Mr. Medeksza-

Here is a avatar I would like to use. It is the correct number of pixels. I think the size is right?

72

Speech Technology / Mr. Medeksza: Can't find msvcrtd.dll debug

« on: January 31, 2005, 11:24:07 pm »

moreis62-

With all due respect perhaps you should try Text to Speech Reader with NeoSpeech and you would more clearly see the point. This is a truly excellent product. The NeoSpeech voices are really quite superb.

Regards,

73

General Discussion / General Discussion Forum

« on: January 31, 2005, 11:10:34 pm »

Smart idea. Yup.

74

General Discussion / Virtual Intelligence Matrix

« on: January 31, 2005, 11:00:13 pm »

Art-

Some of the names are indeed a bit silly: Quantum Flux; VIWonder (which I refer to as weird, above); Matrix (already grossly overused). Other terminology such as true random number generator, quantum phenomenon, and collapsible wave function are standard phraseology in this type of research which can be verified simply by putting the words in any search engine. "Quantum Flux" is simply a cute way of saying quantum randomness. Matrix (of course) means nothing. Regardless of the "too cute" embellishments, I still believe there may be merit to this kind of research. I do not believe there is any flim-flam or hocus-pocus at work here. There is, however, bad copy writing involved.

KnyteTrypper is correct in saying that most of the gibberish is absolutely genuine quantum physics gibberish. I'm completely convinced this guy is a serious researcher. But whether he's going somewhere or headed down a dead end... ? As I said (above) it's "solar bicycle stuff" at this point.

Regards,

75

General Discussion / Mr. Medeksza: a serious suggestion Re: new forums

« on: January 31, 2005, 07:51:03 pm »

Mr. Medeksza-

You should strongly consider putting up a "sticky" posting under the "Ultra Hal Assistant Forum" for awhile informing people about the new forums and that some of the threads may have been transferred there (or however, obviously, you wish to phrase it). I was quite confused as to where the threads went for a few minutes. Others might be confused too; or perhaps never know, especially if they have the old categories bookmarked.

That having been said, it's a very logical idea.

Regards,