Word suggestion 'chatbot'

[blackrockrose]

'Chatbot' was rejected outright in yesterday's COHABIT 7-by-many.

AI is here to stay, and I think most people will have interacted with a chatbot by now.

Alan, could you please reconsider the status of this word when you have time?

[Ozzyjack]

chatbot
/ˈtʃætbɒt/ (say 'chatbot)
noun. a piece of computer software which uses auditory or textual prompts to mimic the conversational responses of a human being.

Also, chat bot.

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[guyd]

I'm with you on "chatbot", absolutely everyday word ATM.

[cmh]

I am probably the least tech savvy chi player possible and even I tried chatbot!! Christine.

[Maudland]

Not quite the least, Christine - didn’t enter my head! But I do recognise it and think it’s suitable for inclusion … (my twopence)

[Alan W]

I did try chatbot myself, and if nobody else had suggested it, I would have raised the issue anyway.

Before applying my own intellect to this matter, it seems appropriate to ask a couple of chatbots for their thoughts. Firstly, ChatGPT 3.5:

Is "chatbot" a real word?

Yes, "chatbot" is indeed a real word. It refers to a computer program designed to simulate conversation with human users, especially over the internet. The term is a combination of "chat" and "robot," reflecting its purpose of engaging in conversation or dialogue automatically.

Is "chatbot" a common word in the English language or a rare word?

"Chatbot" is a relatively common word in the English language, especially in the context of modern technology and artificial intelligence. With the increasing prevalence of automated customer service systems, virtual assistants, and messaging applications, the term "chatbot" has become widely recognized and used in everyday language. It is frequently encountered in discussions about technology, communication, and automation.

And then, the Microsoft Bing Copilot (footnotes omitted):

Is "chatbot" a real word?

Certainly! The term “chatbot” is indeed a real word. It refers to a software application or web interface designed to mimic human conversation through text or voice interactions. These modern chatbots utilize generative artificial intelligence systems to engage in natural language conversations with users, simulating how a human would behave as a conversational partner. So yes, it’s a legitimate term used to describe these interactive conversational programs!

Is "chatbot" a common word in the English language or a rare word?

The term “chatbot” is fairly common in the English language. It refers to a computer program that can engage in conversations with users through text or voice interfaces. Chatbots are used for various purposes, from customer service to information retrieval, and they have become increasingly prevalent in recent years. While some people might consider it a bit buzz-y or narrow-focused, it remains a recognized and widely used term in the field of artificial intelligence and technology. So, if you’re curious about chatbots, you’re definitely not alone!

Quite good answers - although the Microsoft bot could be a bit more sparing with the exclamation marks.

I'll come back to this shortly.

[cmh]

Of course it could be said that the chatbots are justifying their own existence! Certainly the over friendly Bing chatbox never seems to give up trying to introduce itself to me, hence a tech thicko like me knowing a tiny bit about them. Christine

[Maudland]

Most memorable experience with a chatbotty thing, was after a quiz when we’d failed to get a connection - all answers were US President code names. The chatbot was convinced they were all Jeep models and maintained this - acknowledging that the Secret Service assigns code names but that “these code names are typically unrelated to Jeep vehicle models” 😂
It did apologise in the end … “for any confusion.”
It didn’t make me think I should use them more.

[Alan W]

I've no doubt chatbot should be accepted as a new word. The only question in my mind is whether it should be classed as common.

The word has been around since the 1990s, but has taken off in a massive way in the past year or so, resulting from the flurry of large language models that have been made available for widespread use. This is evident in the News on the Web corpus:



Most words added to our lexicon start out in the rare category. However there are some that have been treated as common from the outset. Often these are words associated with technology: barcode, blog, clickbait, hashtag, login, ringtone, texted and texting, and username.

Right now, I think chatbots are written about more often than many of those other terms. It's possible the word chatbot will decline in prominence after a while, but I suspect it will remain a commonly known term for some time. I'll add it to our list as a common word.

(This post was written by a human being.)

[blackrockrose]

Thanks Alan.

And while we're still on the subject of chatbots and ChatGPT, please take a look at Sora (https://openai.com/sora) the latest release (yesterday) from OpenAI (the creators of ChatGPT). There are about 50 totally AI-created video clips to view. I found them amazing. Possibly the end of the line for human-created special effects animation. 

[Wibbly Bits]

So Alan, what is stopping a chatbot from finishing every creation with “ this was written by a human” ? 

[Alan W]

Pride?

[Wibbly Bits]