Chatterbot

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An interactive computer program that replicates conversation by responding like a human would A digital assistant capable of engaging users through simulated dialogue based on AI technology A software developed to create lifelike chats with users by mimicking human conversational patterns
2. A software application designed to carry on a conversation with users automatically, imitating human responses
3. An AI-driven program that communicates with people through textual or spoken language to simulate dialogue

Etymology: "Chatterbot" was coined in 1994 by Michael Mauldin, a computer scientist who was then the founder of the Lycos search engine. He introduced the term in a paper for the Loebner Prize, the contest that tests whether a machine can converse well enough to pass for a human, where it named the programs entered in the competition. Mauldin's paper was presented at the Twelfth National Conference of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence, held in Seattle. The word is a plain blend: "chatter", meaning idle talk, joined to "-bot", a clipping of "robot". Its meaning is therefore close to "talking robot", though the programs it names are software with no physical body. The coinage was modeled on the older word "robot", and "bot" has since become a general term for automated software.

Synonyms: chatbot, virtual assistant