Microsoft is planning to put an array of chatbots and intelligent digital assistants at the heart of its future technology, its CEO said on Wednesday, even as the company was forced once again to shut down its Twitter bot, Tay, after it went rogue for a second time. A week earlier Tay was taken offline for posting outrageous racist comments and sexist abuse. But Microsoft is not alone in exploring bot-space.
The Republican party admitted that it is struggling to switch off Trumpbot, its artificial intelligence experiment. After encouraging signs in early testing, the Trumpbot was put on Fox News and told to learn from its surroundings. But within weeks Trumpbot was questioning the president’s birthplace, demanding a wall to keep out Mexicans and saying it was not surprised Arianna Huffington’s husband had left her for a man.
Party leaders were initially amused when it declared its intention to seek the presidency, saying that Trumpbot was a learning algorithm which would become more sophisticated as the nomination race continued and that, in any case, no one would actually vote for it. However, they became increasingly alarmed as it gathered momentum, spewing out a slew of racist and offensive comments, and even talking about its penis.