[alicebot-archcomm] [news] Alice is ALICE is not Alice and AIML is NOT a programming language

[Ernest Lergon]

Members of ArchComm,

allow me to introduce myself.

My name is Ernest Lergon and I'm the author of ProgramV. I was invited
by Rich to join the ArchComm.

Maybe my contribution is to preserve the purity of AIML as markup
language from the view of a Perl programmer.

As a first step please notice the text below.

Yours sincerely.

Ernest


******************

Although I still use the terms Alice and ALICE in an ambiguous way
myself, I would like to clarify them:

1. Terms

ALICE     Artificial Linguistic Internet Computer Entity
AIML      Artificial Intelligence Markup Language
Alice     Name of an artificial personality designed by Dr. Wallace
AIML-KB   AIML knowledge base    (one to many AIML files)
ProgramX  Any AIML interpreter   (ProgramD, ProgramP, ProgramV,
                                  PalmAlice, J-Alice etc.)

2. ProgramX is not ALICE and is not Alice

Any AIML interpreter is - taken apart - not an ALICE until it is
running: It becomes an ALICE only together with the personality encoded
in the AIML-KB ProgramX is interpreting. And even if this personality
happens to be Alice, ProgramX is not Alice in itself.

ProgramX can be developed in any programming language as long as it
follows the interpreting rules stated by AIML.

3. AIML is not ALICE and is not Alice

Any AIML-KB is - taken apart - not an ALICE until it is interpreted by
ProgramX: It becomes an ALICE only together with ProgramX interpreting
this AIML-KB encoding a personality. And even if this personality
happens to be Alice, the AIML-KB is not Alice in itself.

A personality has to be designed using AIML as long as it is to be
interpreted by ProgramX.

4. Alice is ALICE

The AIML-KB describing the personality named 'Alice' interpreted by
ProgramX is an ALICE.

5. * is ALICE

An AIML-KB describing the personality named '*' interpreted by ProgramX
is an ALICE.

You might be tempted to call anything ALICE, as long as it is a kind of
chatbot - more exact: as long as it is a computer entity, thus
artificial, which has linguistic capabilities.

But due to the fact, that the term 'ALICE' is bound to the ALICE
Foundation and thus bound to AIML, in a narrower sense only a system
composed of an AIML-KB and an AIML interpreter can be named an ALICE.

(The question, if the botmaster belongs to this system, is intentionally
left unanswered).

6. ALICE is not Alice

The factor, that AIML is used to design a personality to awaken by
ProgramX does not imply, that the resulting ALICE is the personality
named 'Alice'.

7. AIML is not a programming language

AIML is a markup language used to describe a personality - more exact:
to create the ability of an ALICE to give reasonable responses to a user
input based on a pattern matching algorithm.

The personality dozes until it is awaken by ProgramX and thus forming an
ALICE.

The rules stated by the AIML definitions tell ProgramX, how to interpret
an AIML-KB. The means for ProgramX performing this interpretation are
not required.

Can you call HTML or even XML a programming language? How do you call
Netscape, IE5 or Konqueror if you do this?

Falsities? Comments?

******************


-- 
              ProgramV - Alice on Perl - available at
               http://www.virtualitas.net/perl/aiml/

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