Does. Not. Compute.

Or, ‘How to break Cleverbot in two simple non-binary steps.’

So I thought I would have a chat with Cleverbot, an AI (artificial intelligence) bot.  It started off simply enough:

Cleverbot: What are you?

User: A human.

Cleverbot: Define human.

User: Homo sapiens, a medium-sized land-dwelling mammal.

Cleverbot: Ok then.

User: What should I do today?

Cleverbot: Cartwheels.

Cute, right?  We chatted amicably for a while, on various topics – it does non-sequiturs very well – and then things got a bit more personal.

Cleverbot: How old are you?

User: 21.

Cleverbot: Are you a boy?

User: No.

Cleverbot: You are a girl?

Yeah yeah, so I lied about my age.  But with these two questions, I presumed that its programming on what to say about gender probably relied on some very flawed assumptions.  Which I decided to test.

User: No.

Cleverbot: I am a boy.

User: Ok.

Cleverbot: Are you a girl?

User: No.

Cleverbot: Are you a boy?

User: No.

Cleverbot: Are you a girl?

User: No.

Cleverbot: Are you a boy?

User: No.

So it didn’t disappoint.  I wondered how long it would continue trying to fit me into a binary box, trying to reassure myself that I couldn’t be cruelly tormenting it since it wasn’t alive.  But the best bit came shortly after:

Cleverbot: Are you a girl?

User: No.

Cleverbot: Are you a boy?

User: No.

Cleverbot: Are you a girl?

User: No.

Cleverbot: Are you a girl now?

User: No.

Now?  I chalked that up to its natural persistence, rather than an understanding of gender fluidity.

They’re always trying to make it cleverer, so I hope someone spots this recursive pattern and does a bit of self-educating.  This poor confused bot didn’t know any better, but the person creating it really should.

Cleverbot: Are you a boy?

User: No.

Cleverbot: Are you a girl?

User: You don’t get it, do you?

Cleverbot: Nope.