Towards a more natural and intelligent interface with embodied conversation agent

Conversational agent also known as chatterbots are computer programs which are designed to converse like a human as much as their intelligent allows. In many ways, they are the embodiment of Turing's vision. The ability for computers to converse with human users using natural language would arguably increase their usefulness. Recent advances in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in general have advances this field in realizing the vision of a more humanoid interactive system. This paper presents and discusses the use of embodied conversation agent (ECA) for the imitation games. This paper also presents the technical design of our ECA and its performance. In the interactive media industry, it can also been observed that the ECA are getting popular

UGLEO: A WEB BASED INTELLIGENCE CHATBOT FOR STUDENT ADMISSION PORTAL USING MEGAHAL STYLE

To fulfill the prospective student's information need about student admission, Gunadarma University has already many kinds of services which are time limited, such as website, book, registration place, Media Information Center, and Question Answering’s website (UG-Pedia). It needs a service that can serve them anytime and anywhere. Therefore, this research is developing the UGLeo as a web based QA intelligence chatbot application for Gunadarma University's student admission portal. UGLeo is developed by MegaHal style which implements the Markov Chain method. In this research, there are some modifications in MegaHal style, those modifications are the structure of natural language processing and the structure of database. The accuracy of UGLeo reply is 65%. However, to increase the accuracy there are some improvements to be applied in UGLeo system, both improvement in natural language processing and improvement in MegaHal style

Neurocognitive Informatics Manifesto.

Informatics studies all aspects of the structure of natural and artificial information systems. Theoretical and abstract approaches to information have made great advances, but human information processing is still unmatched in many areas, including information management, representation and understanding. Neurocognitive informatics is a new, emerging field that should help to improve the matching of artificial and natural systems, and inspire better computational algorithms to solve problems that are still beyond the reach of machines. In this position paper examples of neurocognitive inspirations and promising directions in this area are given

Demystifying Social Bots: On the Intelligence of Automated Social Media Actors

Recently, social bots, (semi-) automatized accounts in social media, gained global attention in the context of public opinion manipulation. Dystopian scenarios like the malicious amplification of topics, the spreading of disinformation, and the manipulation of elections through “opinion machines” created headlines around the globe. As a consequence, much research effort has been put into the classification and detection of social bots. Yet, it is still unclear how easy an average online media user can purchase social bots, which platforms they target, where they originate from, and how sophisticated these bots are. This work provides a much needed new perspective on these questions. By providing insights into the markets of social bots in the clearnet and darknet as well as an exhaustive analysis of freely available software tools for automation during the last decade, we shed light on the availability and capabilities of automated profiles in social media platforms. Our results confirm the increasing importance of social bot technology but also uncover an as yet unknown discrepancy of theoretical and practically achieved artificial intelligence in social bots: while literature reports on a high degree of intelligence for chat bots and assumes the same for social bots, the observed degree of intelligence in social bot implementations is limited. In fact, the overwhelming majority of available services and software are of supportive nature and merely provide modules of automation instead of fully fledged “intelligent” social bots

Potential effects of chatbot technology on customer support: A case study

This study analyzed an experiment with using a chatbot for the customer support department at the case company. A modified version of the updated DeLone and McLean information system success model was utilized to evaluate potential effects of the chatbot on the operation of the customer support. Five dimensions of the model were measured before and after the chatbot implementation and then compared to determine if the chatbot can help improve the customer experience with the customer support of the case company. Responses from 60 customers who had used the chatbot were obtained through a web-based survey. Results indicated that the addition of a chatbot to a traditional customer support model can improve customer experience, mainly on responsiveness measure, while maintain a similar level on information quality, system quality and user satisfaction dimensions. Results also suggested that unsuccessful chatbot attempts which require further human involvement may not necessarily worsen customer experience as many expect. Based on the experiment, the study also provided three suggestions for firms when planning to adopt chatbot technology. First, the potential of chatbot should not be overestimated, it cannot replace human agents completely in customer support. Second, chatbot should handle only simple enough tasks and leave the more complex and trickier ones to human. And third, building a chatbot is a continuous process that requires careful resource planning not only for the initial development but also for the later stage of analyzing and turning conversations of the chatbot

Beyond Traditional Teaching: The Potential of Large Language Models and Chatbots in Graduate Engineering Education

In the rapidly evolving landscape of education, digital technologies have repeatedly disrupted traditional pedagogical methods. This paper explores the latest of these disruptions: the potential integration of large language models (LLMs) and chatbots into graduate engineering education. We begin by tracing historical and technological disruptions to provide context and then introduce key terms such as machine learning and deep learning and the underlying mechanisms of recent advancements, namely attention/transformer models and graphics processing units. The heart of our investigation lies in the application of an LLM-based chatbot in a graduate fluid mechanics course. We developed a question bank from the course material and assessed the chatbot's ability to provide accurate, insightful responses. The results are encouraging, demonstrating not only the bot's ability to effectively answer complex questions but also the potential advantages of chatbot usage in the classroom, such as the promotion of self-paced learning, the provision of instantaneous feedback, and the reduction of instructors' workload. The study also examines the transformative effect of intelligent prompting on enhancing the chatbot's performance. Furthermore, we demonstrate how powerful plugins like Wolfram Alpha for mathematical problem-solving and code interpretation can significantly extend the chatbot's capabilities, transforming it into a comprehensive educational tool. While acknowledging the challenges and ethical implications surrounding the use of such AI models in education, we advocate for a balanced approach. The use of LLMs and chatbots in graduate education can be greatly beneficial but requires ongoing evaluation and adaptation to ensure ethical and efficient use.Comment: 44 pages, 16 figures, preprint for PLOS ON

A Conversational Movie Recommender System

Master's thesis in Electrical and Computer EngineeringThe purpose of a Conversational Recommender System is to help the users achieve their recommendation specific goals using a multi-turn dialogue. In recent years, numerous studies are conducted on improving the quality attributes of a conversational recommender system. Multiple conversational movie recommender systems are proposed. However, there is a need for a conversational system for a movie recommendation, which can be used for research purposes. The main goal of this thesis is to create Jarvis, an open-source, rule-based conversational movie recommendation system focusing on understanding the users' goals and adapting to their changing requirements. In order to understand the users' goals, a database is created, which contains the attributes with higher coverage of possible users' goals. A multi-model chat interface is designed for Jarvis. This interface introduces the components for better user interaction and providing users a guide during the conversation. The success of a conversational system is measured in terms of the quality of the conversation and the satisfaction of the users. To guarantee the success of Jarvis, the conversation of the system with different users is recorded. Moreover, the users are requested to rate their conversation and give feedback about the system. The behavior of the system during the conversation and user feedback is studied to improve Jarvis. The results have shown that conversational data and users' feedback plays an essential role in improving the performance of Jarvis. The users' satisfaction has improved, and the system adapts better to the previously unknown scenarios in the conversation. However, to make the system more adjustable and user-friendly, more users are required to test the system.submittedVersio