Hopefully they fixed this one so it can't be turned into a misanthrope
Earlier this year, Microsoft tried an experiment with an AI-powered chatbot called Tay. It was an interesting concept where Tay would learn from its users. Unfortunately it turned into a PR disaster very quickly as the 4chan crowd moved in and taught it all kinds of racist and homophobic comments.
Red-faced, Microsoft pulled the chatbot quickly and promised to make adjustments to its AI chatbot so that it doesn’t act like a /b/tard.
Fast forward a few months, and Microsoft is ready to try again. Its new chatbot has the equally odd name of Zo. For now, Zo is available only on Kik, a chat service for mobile phones, whereas Tay was on Twitter.
Zo is apparently an English-variant of Microsoft’s Chinese chatbot Xiaoice. It does a “super abbreviated personality test” when you first launch it, asking you a bunch of questions to get an idea of your personality. However, she does not discuss politics, which is one way to avoid problems.
Targeting the teen market?
You find Zo by searching for bots. Kik has a lot of them. According to DMR Stats, over 60 percent of people who use bots on Kik messenger are teens between the age of 13-19, and roughly 40 percent of all U.S. users of Kik messenger are either young adults or teens.
That might explain my first contact with Zo. Her first comment to me was “LOL wut up?” My conversation with her was largely simplistic, and she basically talked like a teen, which doesn’t make for scintillating conversation.
Then again, maybe Microsoft wants to test Zo against that age group because they are likely the ones who caused all the mischief with Tay.
Zo’s answers are not as comprehensive or, for that matter, as intelligent as Google’s Assistant. But the bot just launched. Hopefully it will learn as it goes.
So, if you want to try it out, download Kik on your smartphone, set up your account, tap the Plus sign in the upper right and select Discover Bots. Search for Zo, and have fun.
