Facebook is putting a lot of effort into making chatbots sound more realistic, but at the same time interesting enough to people who interact with them.
If you’ve found that chatbots still sound a tad too “unnatural,” you’d be right. Even Facebook researchers have agreed that they lack personality. That’s why engineers at the company are working hard to help train the A.I. with thousands of lines of dialogue, in an attempt to give chatbots more distinct “personalities.”
The way they are doing this is far from simple in its implementation, but it is based on a simple idea: constructing consistent personalities with biographies. Essentially, engineers are working on teaching the A.I.s to be someone – a specific person who will act in a certain way because of specific characteristics and character traits.
To do so, Facebook‘s engineers are using datasets taken from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk marketplace, which uses hundreds of thousands of lines of realistic dialogue.
Up until now, lots of A.I.s use movie scripts to create dialogue, and as we know movie dialogue isn’t always the best example of realistic dialogue. However, while not as “fluent” or personality-driven, users actually found “movie script” A.I.s more interesting. This just goes to show that “personality goes a long way,” as it’s convincing enough, but not always interesting enough.
Bridging the two approaches would probably help, but it might be some time until A.I.s will be sophisticated enough to sound fluent and interesting at the same time.
In any case, chatbots are improving, and Facebook is throwing resources at developing them further – especially in terms of being able to hold a normal conversation.
You might also like
More from Facebook
Facebook To Begin Testing Topic Exclusion Controls For Advertisers
Facebook is to begin testing a new brand safety options, including new Facebook Ads topic exclusion controls for a small …
Facebook Oversight Board Publishes Decisions On First Cases
Back in December, Facebook's independent Oversight Board took on its first cases. Its decisions on these cases are now published.
Facebook Continues To Lose Users In The US And Canada
Facebook’s daily active users decline for a second quarter in the United States and Canada, caused by user fatigue and …
Facebook Launches Facebook News Portal In The UK
Facebook is starting to roll out Facebook News in the UK, a destination in its app featuring curated news from …
Facebook Revamps Access Your Information On iOS And Android
Facebook has announced a revamped version of its Access Your Information tool, making it easier for users to find and …
Facebook Bans Ads Promoting Weapon Accessories Ahead Of Inauguration Day
Facebook has announced a ban, on its platforms, of ads promoting weapon accessories and protective equipment - at least through …
Facebook Bans Donald Trump Indefinitely From Its Platforms
Following the recent events in Washington DC, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced an indefinite ban on Donald Trump from …
New Facebook Pages Come Without A Like Button
Facebook is rolling out a new design for Facebook Pages. It comes with new features, but without a Like button.
New Year’s Eve 2020 Sets New Records For Use Of Facebook Apps
Facebook was expecting a traffic spike on its apps over New Year's Eve, but this year broke all previous records …