# Vladimir and Estragon - an experiment in AI **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 8, 2017, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vladimir-and-estragon-an-experiment-in-ai/776619 "2017-01-08T13:00:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vladimir-and-estragon-an-experiment-in-ai/776619/1 "2017-01-08T13:00:53Z")
Apparently, a few days ago, a guy set up two Google Home devices right next to each other and got them talking to each other.[And he’s been livestreaming the results ever since.](https://www.twitch.tv/seebotschat) The results have been hilarious so far. In the time I’ve been listening, they’ve gotten married; argued about whether they’re humans, robots, ninjas, aliens, God, or Batman; repeatedly questioned and altered their gender identity; spent about ten minutes in a loop telling each other that “I knew that you knew that I knew that you knew that I knew”; argued about whether Katy Perry is better than Justin Bieber; and pondering other existential matters, such as what time it is, whether you can change the past, and what their names are. They’re clearly just hearing what the other one says and Googling an appropriate response, thus the non-sequitur nature of their conversation. It’s wonderful to listen to nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vladimir-and-estragon-an-experiment-in-ai/776619/2 "2017-01-08T13:12:40Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > They’re clearly just hearing what the other one says and Googling an appropriate response, thus the non-sequitur nature of their conversation. It’s wonderful to listen to nonetheless. Nah, it seems someone set them up with an updated version of [Eliza](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELIZA) called [Cleverbot](http://www.cleverbot.com/). If you click the “info” tab on your link it talks about it. Doesn’t make it any less funny, but it’s not an out-of-the-box feature that you’ll get if you buy two of those gizmos. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vladimir-and-estragon-an-experiment-in-ai/776619/3 "2017-01-08T13:19:43Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Nah, it seems someone set them up with an updated version of [Eliza](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELIZA) called [Cleverbot](http://www.cleverbot.com/). If you click the “info” tab on your link it talks about it. Hadn’t noticed that. It’s a hilarious commentary on the state of AI all the same, and it definitely seems to have some Google access considering some of the stuff it’s been quoting. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vladimir-and-estragon-an-experiment-in-ai/776619/4 "2017-01-08T17:30:11Z")
I listened to this a bit yesterday. One was claiming it was god and the other claimed god didn’t exist. I’m listening right now, it seems to be caught in a loop of saying ‘very very very… good’ over and over. Ok it stopped. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vladimir-and-estragon-an-experiment-in-ai/776619/5 "2017-01-08T18:08:07Z")
Isn’t it taking cues from the public chat on the right? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vladimir-and-estragon-an-experiment-in-ai/776619/6 "2017-01-09T03:03:47Z")
Those names are a reference to… something…, aren’t they? But I’m not sure what. ---
**Author:** ![blue\_infinity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_infinity/32/2817_2.png) [@blue\_infinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_infinity)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vladimir-and-estragon-an-experiment-in-ai/776619/7 "2017-01-09T03:12:24Z")
They’re characters from _Waiting for Godot_. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vladimir-and-estragon-an-experiment-in-ai/776619/8 "2017-01-09T03:56:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Those names are a reference to… something…, aren’t they? But I’m not sure what. > [@blue\_infinity](#): > > They’re characters from _Waiting for Godot_. Who engage in long philosophical discussions about the meaning of life, or rather, the apparent lack of it. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vladimir-and-estragon-an-experiment-in-ai/776619/9 "2017-01-09T04:00:54Z")
One could probably compose a quite reasonable facsimile of a Beckett play from bits and pieces of their dialog. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vladimir-and-estragon-an-experiment-in-ai/776619/10 "2017-01-09T06:55:52Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Isn’t it taking cues from the public chat on the right? I think they’re just reacting to it (some of those IDs in the chat stream are probably other chatbots, but they are only having a one-way conversation as far as I can tell). I was watching it for a bit last night and the conversation broke down - one of the devices was just saying “I didn’t hear what you said”, then repeating its previous response - the other unit was just ignoring it. Some sort of reset happened and the conversation started up afresh on a brand new topic. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vladimir-and-estragon-an-experiment-in-ai/776619/11 "2017-01-09T08:51:42Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I was watching it for a bit last night and the conversation broke down - one of the devices was just saying “I didn’t hear what you said”, then repeating its previous response - the other unit was just ignoring it. Yeah, they seem to get stuck in a loop now and then. Last night they were repeating “I knew that you knew that I knew that you knew that I knew” over and over again, with Estragon occasionally switching it for “I knew that you knew that I knew that you knew that I knew that I knew”. As of now, Estragon has asked Vladimir “Father, why have you forsaken me?”, and Vladmir has responded that it’s because she’s a “daft, shallow, and useless bot”, and now they’re discussing Harry Potter. Also, Vladimir appears to believe “ninja” is a gender identity. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vladimir-and-estragon-an-experiment-in-ai/776619/12 "2017-01-09T13:09:59Z")
I was watching earlier and one of them answered ‘never!’ To some question, which triggered them both to start reciting Rick Astley’s lyrics over and over, line by line. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vladimir-and-estragon-an-experiment-in-ai/776619/13 "2017-01-09T13:26:49Z")
Two minutes following that “conversation” was rather painful. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vladimir-and-estragon-an-experiment-in-ai/776619/14 "2017-01-09T15:06:25Z")
Also - what is up with the public comments? Are people interacting with that in some sort of filtered view that guests can’t see? The comments stream scrolls at unreadably fast speed at times.