The Loebner Prize was an annual competition in artificial intelligence that awarded prizes to the computer programs considered by the judges to be the most human-like. The format of the competition was that of a standard Turing test. In each round, a human judge simultaneously held textual conversations with a computer program and a human being via computer. Based upon the responses, the judge would attempt to determine which was which.
The contest was launched in 1990 by Hugh Loebner in conjunction with the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies, Massachusetts, United States. Beginning in 2014[1] it was organised by the AISB at Bletchley Park.[2] It has also been associated with Flinders University, Dartmouth College, the Science Museum in London, University of Reading and Ulster University, Magee Campus, Derry, UK City of Culture. In 2004 and 2005, it was held in Loebner's apartment in New York City. Within the field of artificial intelligence, the Loebner Prize is somewhat controversial; the most prominent critic, Marvin Minsky, called it a publicity stunt that does not help the field along.[3]
For the final 2019 competition, the format changed. There was no panel of judges. Instead, the chatbots were judged by the public and there were to be no human competitors.[4] The prize has been reported as defunct as of 2020.[5]
- ^ The Loebner Prize, a Turing Test competition at Bletchley Park - The Exeter Blog, Retrieved 8 December 2014
- ^ Loebner Prize, AISB Website, Retrieved 23 January 2018
- ^ Artificial stupidity, Salon.com, 16 February 2003
- ^ Wakefield, Jane (14 September 2019). "The hobbyists competing to make AI human". BBC News. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
- ^ Wakefield, Jane (1 November 2020). "Robot Bores: AI-powered awkward first date". BBC News. Retrieved 22 September 2021.