Hi from Spain...

I´ve just uploaded some kind of an AI program, just a pre-pre-alpha version or something.

http://slideme.org/application/kid

KID is a kind of bot that tries to emulate a KID´s first language learning steps.

I think the idea is interesting (at least for me, obviously :-); there are great chatbots out there with abilities to learn (like Jabberwocky), but it seems there is not one that builds its memory from zero, as a child does. KID builds its memory online (one common memory for all instances running), so it is progressively growing. It is built currently just in repetition and assotiation.

KID is currently 48 days old, and has learnt about 300 concepts. Not a lot. I have read KID some tales (in spanish), and it could read TXT files and web pages. So, currently, if you say him "LOBO" ("wolf") it could respond "LOBO CHIMENEA CAPERUCITA ESCAPAR BOSQUE" ("wolf chimney red riding hood escape forest")... it may sound not very intelligent, but by now it is just repetition and assotiation, like a kid does. And he can learn english, too... And it grows, values words he hears a lot, and forget the ones that are rarely used, etc.

I find there is something fun and interesting in there. So I think there is some potential.

The most interesting thing I find is that programming it you have to investigate language learning rules (could be used at schools?). Currently, if you say "EL LOBO" it could say "LA EL EL A DE KID LA EL". That means that he repeats short words (the ones most used) and ignores "LOBO". So I have to make a way to value and make more persistent the longer words, but...

...I have no developer abilities at all, you see. And no more time (crisis, crisis). The program is very simple, but I had a hard time building it (in BASIC!), and its full of errors.

So... Anyone interested? If someone is, I could give him the code and help him in any way from here. I would be very happy to see him grow. And my sons too - they are the ones that read him the spanish tales, El patito feo (try to say him "PATITO"), Caperucita Roja, Los tres Cerditos y el Lobo...

Hoping your answers!
Best regards,

Pedro

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One more thing. KID has been uploaded 3 days ago, and it has been downloaded 170 times, but... it seems nobody has used it al all, since its memory hasn´t any new concept. Could someone use it and talk a little with him until he goes to sleep and wakes up again? I want to see if it is an error in my coding, or it is jus too boring... or both things :-)

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That´s a brief (english) description:

"Language learning is based primarily on repetition. If you listen to a particular word or sound in a given situation, it becomes associated with it, and thus it could be generated again by repeating it. The ability of a concept to be associated with a certain situation depends primarily on repetition´s amount: the more times you listen it, the more likely it is to be created. Over time, you could learn to categorize, determine the relationships among concepts that appear close together or as well as to be separated classes of concepts such as "things", "actions", "feelings" and so on.

The complexity of the result is huge, but the basic algorithm used to create it may not be so complex. And I thought, why not give it a try?

For more information:

http://www.arkcenter.net/pedro/diversiones/pdf/div%20-%2010.pdf
http://diversiones-pmart.blogspot.com/

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