] SmarterChild, for those not in the know, is America
] Online's artificial intelligence program. That's right -
] an AOL IM AI.

Elonka says:

The IM-bot SmarterChild disappeared for awhile, but seems to be back now. I find it enormously useful, since it's a quick way to get word definitions, find out what movies are playing, check the weather in a city that I'm traveling to, look up an encyclopedia entry, check a stock quote, etc. etc., all in plain english queries, "What's the weather forecast for Butte, MT?" "What time is Hidalgo playing?" or "What time is Hidalgo playing at the St. Charles 18?"

Or, when I'm really bored (or just want to procrastinate), it's fun testing the limits of its conversational ability, like to ask it about its parents (which it does indeed respond to).

If you haven't checked this out this bot yet, I recommend it. Just open an IM window and send a message (any message, even just "hi!") to "SmarterChild", and watch the time-wasting begin. :)

[ It's pretty rad. Certainly if i didn't have sherlock to answer this sort of thing, i'd use it pretty much all the time... when i'm away from the mac, i'll definitely use it... -k]

Observational Humor - Conversations with SmarterChild