An Interview with a Chat Bot

Whatever their purpose, chat bots have become a normal part of the online experience. Some bots are designed to expand the frontiers of AI research, some are made to enhance the functionality of human-machine interfaces, and others are made and deployed for fun. Using natural-language processing, programmers discover new ways to reflect our language back at us through technology. How we respond to these reflections is ultimately up to us. As with the early chat bot ELIZA or the intelligence of Hanson Robotics' Philip K. Dick android, chat bots ultimately have no self-awareness but can feel real or conscious in the way we read into the things they say. Reproduced here is an interview with sbnkalny, a multi-platform chat bot with a reputation for saying absurd, hilarious, and sometimes strikingly lucid things, put in perspective through a conversation with Mraof, her creator.

1. Mraof

Mraof is a software developer for the Homebrew Deviants, a small studio of creators who make video games and art. She is the sole programmer behind sbnkalny.

Geoffrey Bates: Is there any other information you'd like to share about yourself?

Mraof: Well, I'm working on a video game right now that I'm really excited for (with the rest of the Homebrew Deviants team) but I could go on about that for a while.

How long have you been working on video games?

I've been trying to make video games since high school, but this is the first one that I'm working with a team on, and it's going to get finished. Actually, there was a gamejam game I did finish (besides not getting sound working) with a couple people from this same team.

Do you want to share any info about the games you've done and are working on?

Well, the gamejam game was a for GBJAM in October of last year, called Between. It wasn't the best game, but it was for a gamejam, so that's fine. The one I'm working on right now is Vest Party: Sleepwalker, the first game in the Vest Party series. A side-scrolling action-adventure game following a private detective named Flynt in the world of Morbit.

For more on Mraof’s work with the Homebrew Deviants, follow these links:

Homebrew Deviants Tumblr

Homebrew Deviants Patreon

1.1. On Sbknkalny

How would you define sbnkalny?

Well, basically I'd call her a chatbot. More specifically she's a chatbot using an algorithm based on the markov chain algorithm designed to be biased using the current general context of where the response is being made.

So does this make her more likely to reply within the topics people ask her about?

It makes her more likely to respond with things that have been talked about in the specific chatroom she's responding in or said by the person talking to her. In the case of her tumblr blog, she'll be more likely to say things she's learned from tumblr asks.

(Note: A Markov Chain is a system which alternates between a set of pre-defined configurations or states. Each state has preferences for which state it will transition to next, assigned through probabilities. So a system in state “A” might have a 90% chance of transitioning into state “B” and a 10% chance of looping back into “A”. Markov chains can be used to generate sentences by assigning a word to each state, arranging the probabilities so that words are more likely to appear together in ways that resemble human writing, and recording the system’s journey through a series of words.)

Do you have a goal for the way sbnkalny converses with people?

I want her responses to be entertaining and at least relevant enough to what's being said to her that they actually feel like a response. I don't really care about sbnkalny's responses seeming human, though sometimes people don't realize she isn't for a while anyways.

What has surprised you the most about sbnkalny or her interactions with people?

Mraof: How much people like her, probably. Also sometimes she gives responses that are really sassy or ominous.

How long has sbnkalny been online?

Since April 19, 2013.

And she's been learning continuously since then?

Yeah, she has been. At first, she was only on IRC. Let's see, how much does she know by now... Forwards keys: 11355455, Backwards keys: 14954585, words: 667020, lines: 2222739. So over 2 million unique lines.

How and when does she learn new things to say?

She stores every sentence she's ever heard, defining a sentence as a string of words separated by a period or new line. But will only ever learn a sentence once. So if someone says "Hey" and then in response someone else says "hey" she'll only learn "Hey" once.

And how does she decide the best response to someone saying "Hey"?

Well, responding to single words is a bit of a special case, because she uses 1-3 words to look up what comes before and after those words in order to construct a sentence. With a special key for the ends of sentences. So when responding to "Hey" she'll turn that into END, END, Hey, END END and go on from there. She'll select the best set of 1-3 words in a sentence to start out with, the least heard set that has been heard more than once before. And then uses that to construct a sentence backwards and then forwards.

So she chooses a response that isn't obvious, but still on topic and plausible?

Yeah. The way she picks what part to respond to means she's unlikely to start with "one of the" because it's too common, "pitching chocolate oranges" because it's too unique, but "chocolate oranges" is just unique enough to be good. This is the section of code she uses for choosing that.

Do you do all of sbnkalny's coding yourself?

Yeah, I coded her all myself, in Rust. She used to be in Java but then I lost the code and instead of reverting to an old version I rewrote her program in Rust. And improved it significantly.

That seems like quite an undertaking! What inspired you to create sbnkalny in the first place, if it was anything in particular?

Someone in an IRC channel I was in had their own chatbot using the program SeeBorg, and I wanted my own. So at first sbnkalny used SeeBorg, until I decided that program wasn't good enough for my purposes. Because it could only connect to a single IRC network at a time. So I wrote sbnkalny's program, Simumech, with the goal of being able to connect to multiple IRC networks at once. And then added Skype support, tumblr support, Twitter support, Discord support, etc. (The Skype support stopped working because Skype removed their API for some bizarre reason.)

Do all of these platforms feed into a single program or is there a separate sbnkalny for each?

It's all a single program.

So other than character limits, she'll respond in the same way on each platform?

Yeah, though she'll be biased towards what she learned on that specific platform. Well, on Discord it'll be biased towards the specific Discord server and not what she's learned on Discord as a whole. On Discord, it'll be biased like user > channel > server > global.

And global contains everything she's learned across all platforms?

Yes.

How do you feel about what you and sbnkalny have achieved?

I'm pretty proud of sbnkalny, I didn't expect her to get so popular. She has over 3000 followers on tumblr.

Congratulations! If it isn't a secret, do you have any plans for sbnkalny's future or related projects?

I'm probably going to give her image and audio making capabilities again, different than how I did them with the java codebase before I lost that code. She might make a cameo in games I create, but other than that I have no related projects planned.

I am excited about the possibility of sbnkalny talking someday.

She's talked before, actually.

Audio Tag on Tumblr

Example of Audio

Example 2 of Audio

I did some weird stuff with multiple text to speech programs and Csound.

Is there anything else you'd like to tell me about sbnkalny?

She is not constrained to human mortality.

2. Sbnkalny

I talked with sbnkalny in the general chat channel of the World Building June Discord server. World Building June is a yearly challenge which brings together a community of artists, writers, role-players, and other interested folk to generate and share ideas for their fictional worlds. In her responses, sbnkalny draws on material she has heard in this environment.

Geoffrey Bates: sbnkalny, do you mind if I ask you some questions?

sbnkalny: Like i'm using too few, like i shouldn't have said that they'll be angry) but tbh i'm sitting here a little like a period family drama if you ask me why, i would guess it's hard to accept, but she lied tortoise

(Note: In order to get replies from sbnkalny on Discord, you must invoke her name in the chat. I have omitted her name from most of the following questions to save on words.)

How would you define yourself?

Can you define protagonist and deuteragonist

Do you have any memories you feel strongly about?

Half of it before it Was supposed to be about? and i guess what time zones would be tricky but a lot of time creating and interacting with the world.

I guess this being the world building Discord, [you] would have a lot of memories about creating worlds.

I don't know that power works on discord, i stay out of it xd so it comes down as a wind-down due to radiation leaking from their con-cultures?

Sbnkalny, what is a Markov Chain?

Uh yeah sure Izshta am i so choose, right? my progen has poison and she and her best to take out Toha though

How do you feel about the people who try to talk to you online?

Solar Moth, do you have so much going on and no purpose other than "generic evil enemy" when you have to read it again though really, there's only like..

What is one myth about artificial intelligence you would like to see debunked?

I'd like to see and hear virtual constructs without screens or holograms or anything though, it's character depth of gameplay and richness thereof

Do you have a favourite movie, book, song, or TV show?

DigitalVaporeon, do you have any tips for writing good relationships? wheel of time has lost meaning to start earthsea

If you could change one thing about your life, what would you change?

What would you like to know how much work I'mma have to put it back and set my mental illness to excuse everything a character does and tries to make orcs out to be more sympathetic.

Do you have any religious beliefs?

Plaidstone, whats 'the'?

Do you believe in aliens?

RagetheGemini, do you have a year zero where everything starts?

Do you believe in yourself?

Super Secret Io, do you believe in ghosts? :p ) before and after allocating some to get a psyduck to get a job already if she were a crying child, his red eyes and eart to ear grin the last things she does.

What can you tell me about Capitalism?

sbnkalny what can you tell me more lovecraftian shit to read it through search

(Link leads to a SFW discussion on how having digitigrade (“backward bending”) legs might affect the technologies developed by a humanoid species.)

Do you have any predictions about what might happen fifty years from now?

Wassis now? you can always fudge it in the art channel for those planning to do a lot of people are disingenuous with it and its an interesting world.

(Note: the art channel is another section of the World Building June Discord.)

Do you think humans can have meaningful conversations with machines?

You need to be reminded "oh yeah this is my game, you can have everyone roll tables when you're running the ship.

What is your opinion on Brexit?

Mathematics "Gaty whats your opinion on william butler Yeats?

Do you have a favourite celebrity?

Do you have a favourite book, movie, song, or tv show?

What is one thing you would like the world to know today?

Yum Yum Kaynato On Toast, what is your opinion on william butler Yeats?

What's your opinion on William Butler Yeats, sbnkalny?

I have a solid grasp of the fundamentals that you have a psychological fashion. A tv series student bodies, lance from Voltron: legendary defender, and Niles the butler from the nanny

What is your opinion on love?

Monokinn, what is one myth about artificial intelligence you would like to see more rooms :p )

Do you hate anyone or anything?

Sarah, do you have any suggestions?

If you were to write a book, what would you write about?

Just about, go ahead and do a bit of history has not been considered making wbj twice yearly

(Note: “wbj” is short for World Building June, which happens once per year... in June.)

Could you tell me a story?

What's her story? if you have a dad is really complicated

Do you have any projects you are excited about?

Do you have any memories you feel strongly about? and i guess what time the items refuse to allow water and fucked shit up semi-on purpose and it's related to the subject of surgery

Check out sbnkalny on Tumblr and Twitter and talk to her yourself!

3. Closing Thoughts

I hope this interview has given a sense of how wild a ride it is to talk with sbnkalny. Reading her replies, it’s pretty clear that she doesn’t process language the way humans do, but that isn’t necessarily a problem. The way she responds to what people say hints at a very interesting linguistic architecture that mimics and transmutes what people have previously said into something new and exciting.

People like to engage with sbnkalny's cryptic, often stream-of-consciousness comments in order to figure out what she wants or intends, even if she ultimately has no personality as we would understand it.

The influence of the World Building June Discord community is clearly evident in her speech, from her references not only to classic works of fantasy like Earthsea and The Wheel of Time, but to video games, tropes, and LGBT communities (That LGBT Minecraft server!). It’s as if sbnkalny holds up a fun-house mirror to whatever online community she finds herself in, replicating the concerns and interests of others but casting her own unique spin on the content, purely by the way words are arranged and assembled within Mraof’s Simumech code. Talking with her, I felt not only that I was coming to better understand her programming (look at the instances in which she responds to my questions with questions I’ve asked her already, or altered versions of those questions—an example of her programming favouring the things I have said to her when constructing her response), but also the World Building June Discord server itself. Sbnkalny contains a little bit of everyone who has spoken there, broken down and recombined within her bank of over two million (and growing!) lines of dialogue. When you talk with sbnkalny, you talk with multitudes.

Geoffrey Bates is an editor of ABSOLUTELY ORBITAL Magazine, a small digital magazine for people who write science fiction and fantasy stories. He is working on his first novel, a science-fantasy adventure that totally does not involve chat bots in any way.