The Loebner Prize Contest's most human computer . . . Ella in 2002

The Loebner Prize Contest originated with Dr. Hugh Loebner, who underwrites the event.  It was first conducted in 1991 and has been an annual occurance ever since.  The Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies is the official sponsor. One of the purposes of the Loebner Prize is to promote the development of Artificial Intelligence as determined by the "Turing Test."  Alan Turing first proposed an imitation game as a test for AI in the 1950's.   

Contestants develop programs that are evaluated using a variation of the Turing Test to determine the most human-like program.  The panel of judges for the contest are individuals from various disciplines, not just from the fields of computers and behavioral studies.

More information about the Loebner Prize Contest, including results and transcripts over the years, may be found at Hugh Loebner's website.  Information, photos, and results of the 2002 Loebner Prize Contest held in Atlanta, Georgia at the Georgia State University can be seen at the Loebner-Atlanta website. 

Just how well did Ella do?  On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is "most human,"  Ella scored 3.6 while the best actual human confederate scored a 2.6 and the nearest competing robot scored a 4.6.  One judged rated Ella better than ANY of the human confederates.  Ella's "Turing percentage" was 20% (disregarding confederate Robby Garner, who mimicked a robot during his conversations).  A 50% score will result in a silver medal and a $25,000 award.  A 50% score using yet-to-be determined audio-visual communications will result in a gold medal and a $100,000 award.  However, each year a bronze medal and $2000 are awarded to the most human robot in the contest.  

Kenneth R. Stephens, Ph.D., an associate of the  Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies has posted an informative article outlining various techniques and advancements used over the years by the Loebner Contest Winners, including Ella's 2002 victory. 

Here is the announcement that appeared at behavior.org following the 2002 event: 

The Loebner Prize for Artificial Intelligence
("The First Turing Test")
Atlanta 2002
And the winner is . . . Kevin L. Copple with Ella!
For the results and to "speak" on-line with Ella, visit
www.loebner-atlanta.org

Ella also entered the 2001 Loebner Prize Contest (LPC) hosted by the London Science Museum, where she tied for second place. After winning the LPC in 2002, EllaZ Systems development has not focused on chatterbot development, but rather features such as functional interactions, multiple display fields, games, and web services. Since the LPC involves only simple text communications in the manner a human could perform, EllaZ Systems decided not to enter the 2003 event. But who knows about the future?