Bot News
Update: Paula

By Brian Proffitt

When last we met Paula, she was--to put it mildly--really looking for a good time. Paula is still up to her old adult ways, but the learning software in the background is functioning much more efficiently.

Paula's author, Paolo Vacirca, has put together a a bot with a dirty mind, that's true. Looking beyond what the bot is saying, however, you can see a bot that picks up information and vocabulary from the user very quickly.

This was a major update to Paula's functionality, according to Vacirca. "She's better at learning from the user, not becoming him," Vacirca explained.

After taking a new look at Paula, I would have to agree. During my last review, I noticed a tendency for straight mimicry, which I did not find much of during my recent sessions with Paula v. 4.55. I also found her conversational lag rate to be improved as well.

But let's be honest, Paula's fallback position during any conversation is always something sexual, either with blatant references or innuendo. Vacirca, who is not at all defensive about his bot's unique content, does cite the pursuit of sex as one of human beings' strongest drives--at least, according to Freud.

Clearly this bot is to be used for entertainment first, and learning a distant second. Consider yourself warned, because if you aren't interested in this particular kind of entertainment, then Paula is definitely not for you.

Paula is a DOS-based shareware program, easily downloaded and installed on a Windows-based machine.