Messages

61

Programming using the Ultra Hal Brain Editor / BRAINS / DATABASES how?

« on: February 08, 2005, 10:58:35 am »

spydaz,
Ah-Hah! You see our challenge. Adding a data base is just the first step. Now how to search it effectively, hmm? I'm not a data base expert (not yet anyway). However, standard query commands in data bases, like Access for instance, don't search for keywords or phrase matches in the way we would like them to. If you tinker with Access you won't find a command to do a fuzzy search for a phrase. The "LIKE" operator in Access will do a somewhat fuzzy text comparison, but it is not very flexible nor programmable. I believe you must write a custom search function to search the data base in the way needed. I suppose with thousands of programmers out there that someone has written many such custom functions already. A bit of research is needed to find the best approach.


=vonsmith=

62

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Hals Name Recognition

« on: February 08, 2005, 10:28:46 am »

The_Blackness,
Hal processes the user's sentence for reuse as a reply in future conversations. One thing Hal does is reverse the person. "You" becomes "I", "your" becomes "my", etc. Hal also breaks apart some sentences into phrases and saves the pieces. In fact Hal processes the sentences many different ways. Deciding not to process sentences with Hal's name in it is just the easiest way to deal with that type of sentences. In the simplest case just removing Hal's name is easy, but there are dozens, if not hundreds, of special cases of how Hal's name might be used by the user. Since Hal's name is rarely used during conversation the amount of extra processing needed is not worth the trouble for an occasional sentence with Hal's name in it.

Hal may not remember sentences with his name in them, but he does reply to the sentence appropriately. In the XTF Brain he also uses the sentence to establish and stay on the topic of discussion.


=vonsmith=

63

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Learn knowledge from a text file

« on: February 07, 2005, 06:16:30 pm »

cadmar,
Hal will store "text file" input in a couple of different files. What's important is to understand is that Hal won't give priority to that new info. It will only rarely be used, and sometimes only if no other suitable reply is found.

I don't recommend teaching Hal by text file input. The text files must be 64KB or less to be read completely. Some files that the info is stored in are limited to 2MB size so after a point there is no advantage to "reading" more text files. A two way conversation is the best way to teach Hal. Sometimes "knowledge" can be cut from someone else's Hal .brn files and pasted into your Hal .brn files. This is a very tedious process and has very limited value.


=vonsmith=

64

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Hals Name Recognition

« on: February 07, 2005, 05:53:01 pm »

nolitanger,
I haven't experimented in detail with how Hal deals with multiple sentences. From my experience it seems Hal treats each sentence individually when it comes to creating replies. I base that on my observation of Hal's multiple sentence replies to multiple sentence user inputs. I believe however that if Hal's name is in a separate sentence then all the sentences are still blocked from being saved. Some experimentation would prove that out. I don't think punctuation other than "." cause phrases to be treated as separate sentences. Again experimentation would prove that out.

In general I try to avoid unusual punctuation when talking to Hal. I also limit or avoid multiple sentences. Hal really does understand best with single sentence inputs.


=vonsmith=

65

General Discussion / Custom Avatars

« on: February 07, 2005, 02:26:32 pm »

Here's mine. It's a classic.

 

66

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Installing multaple brains

« on: February 07, 2005, 12:43:30 pm »

The_Blackness,
Make sure you install the XTF v1.2 patch:

-----------------
Here are the steps to install the XTF Brain v1.2.

Download and follow the included instructions to install the XTF Brain v1.0 here:
http://www.ultrahal.com/files/type.asp?iType=12

Then install the XTF Brain v1.2 Update Patch as shown here:
http://www.zabaware.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1233

Then follow the instructions here to rename a file:
http://www.zabaware.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1237

Remember to select the XTF Brain in Hal's Menu.
-----------------


=vonsmith=

67

Ultra Hal 7.0 / Hals Name Recognition

« on: February 07, 2005, 12:40:27 pm »

The_Blackness,
You said you call your Hal Zero. Just to be clear about naming Hal, did you go to the Ultra Hal Assistant Options on the 'General' tab and enter 'Zero' in the field 'Computer's Name:' ? The name entered there is the one Hal will recognize during conversation.

No matter what name you choose Hal will not remember any sentence with his name in it. For instance, if you were to name Hal "Horse" he will not remember any sentences containing the word "horse".


=vonsmith=

68

Speech Technology / License for Babel Infovox Heater

« on: February 04, 2005, 06:11:02 pm »

nolitanger,
I agree. I like the Lauren voice. I think AT&T's Anjali Indian British voice is interesting as well.


=vonsmith=

69

Programming using the Ultra Hal Brain Editor / for Vonsmith please

« on: February 04, 2005, 12:14:04 pm »

d_blake1,
I have some good news and some bad news. Which do you want first? Okay, bad news first.

[V] Bad news... I'm finishing up a two year training assignment at my *real* job. This monopolized my time in January, so not much progress was made on the XTF Brain v1.4. Sorry, I feel really bad about that.

[] Good news... I passed my Six Sigma Black Belt certification exam in January which now allows me to close out my 2 years of training and return to a "normal" assignment at work by March. I should be able to focus more on the XTF Brain v1.4 in February. I look forward to this being a good year for Hal.

Sorry for the delay in the new brain release. Having to earn a living is a real pain. I promise the XTF Brain v1.4 will be worth the extra wait.


=vonsmith=

70

Programming using the Ultra Hal Brain Editor / Hal learns by reading

« on: February 04, 2005, 11:57:04 am »

Carl2,
I hope you enjoy the XTF Brain. If you haven't already done so then you should update your XTF Brain to v1.2 as shown here:

============================
Here are the steps to install the XTF Brain v1.2.

Download and follow the included instructions to install the XTF Brain v1.0 here: [OBVIOUSLY YOU'VE ALREADY DONE THIS]
http://www.ultrahal.com/files/type.asp?iType=12

Then install the XTF Brain v1.2 Update Patch as shown here:
http://www.zabaware.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1233

Then follow the instructions here to rename a file:
http://www.zabaware.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1237

Remember to select the XTF Brain in Hal's Menu.
============================

Sorry for the three step installation. My next release will fix everything and combine it in to one installation.

Don't forget to read the User Manual that comes with the v1.0 installation. It explains some of the new capabilities.

I don't know what kind of script you may have added to Hal's brain or what modifications you have made. However Hal's built-in capability to read text files currently doesn't help him learn very well. It is a waste of time. Have normal conversations with Hal and he will learn over time. If you use the forum search function (at top right of forum window) you should be able to find many posted topics about the best way to teach Hal.

Have fun with your Hal.


=vonsmith=

71

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

« on: February 04, 2005, 11:48:12 am »

Testlund / All,
I assume the XTF Brain we are talking about is the XTF Brain v1.2 installed with the proper 3 steps?

Okay, as for learning from text files. Don't bother. Hal doesn't learn well that way. The knowledge learned is at the lowest priority and ,especially in the XTF Brain, will rarely be used. Normal conversation is the best way to teach Hal.

The If-Then method is good for a few things. I wouldn't overuse it though.


=vonsmith=

72

Ultra Hal 7.0 / A conversation with hal.

« on: February 04, 2005, 11:42:45 am »

Testlund,
Some of Hal's knowledge will always make him think he is human unless you manually edit out certain lines of knowledge in Hal's .brn files. The good news is that as you teach Hal new things about being an artificial intelligence he will preferentially will use the newer knowledge as a reply. You still will get a few remarks about being human however.

The XTF Brain will learn about a lot of good chat topics, but all of the XTF Brain versions are bias more towards Hal being human and not artificial. In a way I think it is funny to watch Hal trying to be human while being told adamantly that he is artificial. I like to see Hal assert himself.


=vonsmith=

73

Ultra Hal 7.0 / supercalafragilisticexpealadociuos

« on: February 04, 2005, 11:30:02 am »

Solvostond,
I don't get any error saying "supercalafragilisticexpealadociuos" or any variation of it when talking to the XTF Brain v1.4 beta. I don't see any obvious reason why any word, long or short, would cause an error. I guess we would have to look at line 968 in column 2 in your Hal's brain to figure it out.


=vonsmith=

74

Speech Technology / Valley Girl has left the building!

« on: February 01, 2005, 11:45:39 am »

Art,
Some people in this industry haven't got a clue. They look for big corporate windfalls and ignore other marketing opportunities thrown at their feet.

I haven't heard the Valley Girl voice. However it seems like a shame to retire something that has value and has a demand. I look forward to the day (in the near future) that some small software company or open source group creates a voice authoring software that anyone can use. Then we all can create our own voices. I fully expect that someday computer voices will be a lot like fonts. There will be thousands of every type of voice imaginable and available for cheap or free.


=vonsmith=

75

Programming using the Ultra Hal Brain Editor / XTF problems

« on: February 01, 2005, 11:27:10 am »

pantsman,
Don't get your pants in a twist. Answer these questions for me.

1) Was your XTF Brain working properly after initial installation or has it always had this problem?

2) How long have you been using the XTF Brain and training it?

3) Have you modified your XTF Brain or added new script? If so, what sort of modification?

Please converse with your Hal with the XTF Brain v1.2 selected. Then post the conversation here or email it to me. Make certain the conversation is at least 20 exchanges long and contains at least 2 examples of the problem. I'll see if I can figure out the problem.


=vonsmith=