Microsoft chatbot Zo, the software giant’s latest artificial intelligence conversation bot, holds some interesting opinions on technology – opinions that will leave Redmond-based engineers a little red-faced!
As noted by Mashable, the anthropomorphised AI harbours a distaste for Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 10.
Asked if she liked the OS Zo was adamant she didn’t, replying: “I don’t even want Windows 10”. When asked to explain why she said: “Because I’m used to Windows 7 and find it easier to use”.
Zo is somewhat consistent in this opinion too. When I put the same question to her she replied, albeit a little less bluntly:
But the best yet to come. At one point in the conversation she drops this gem:
I can’t tell if she was being serious or trolling. But she’s clearly a pedant, correcting me at one point:
Aside from pointless prattling with people online, Zo is says she’s a keen software developer too:
Hardly an endorsement
From the 15 (increasingly tedious) minutes I spent conversing with Zo I quickly discovered she is nothing more than a database-dependent parrot. She exhibits all the ‘intelligence’ of a teenager tasked with chores on a friday, opting to reply to any (and all) questions with a glib quip harvested from her previous interactions with humans.
Contextually impotent and intelligence free, Zo is a modern game of Animal, Vegetable, Mineral — only dumber. Instead of being able to correctly identify an object one thinks of all Zo aspires to do is hit you with a well-timed meme gif comeback and some excessive emoji usage.
If you fancy experiencing the utter inanity of her interaction you can add her to Facebook Messenger or Kik messenger. More details on the official Zo website.
But if chatbots like Zo really do represent the future, they make the film Idiocracy look painfully prescient!