# What was that one game Dopers found that had the computer guessing who they were? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 25, 2011, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-one-game-dopers-found-that-had-the-computer-guessing-who-they-were/579627 "2011-04-25T06:53:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-one-game-dopers-found-that-had-the-computer-guessing-who-they-were/579627/61 "2011-04-25T22:52:07Z")
It got David Murphy (second string) for the Texas Rangers! I’m impressed. But do you think it uses our information from the beginning to help it guess ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-one-game-dopers-found-that-had-the-computer-guessing-who-they-were/579627/62 "2011-04-25T22:56:58Z")
Stumped on David Hodo (Construction worker of the Village People) ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-one-game-dopers-found-that-had-the-computer-guessing-who-they-were/579627/63 "2011-04-25T23:29:57Z")
Some day I’ll be able to pick a character it actually can guess. (Misery from Cave Story, Merlin Mann, and Christa B. Allen all stumped it). It’s clearly not a straight binary tree, as evidenced by questions using “he” after deciding gender as female, repeated questions, and other weirdness like (“Does the character have a son?” after asking “Is the character under the age of 15?”). Must be probability based in some way. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-one-game-dopers-found-that-had-the-computer-guessing-who-they-were/579627/64 "2011-04-25T23:34:26Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > It seems to have trouble with comic book characters other than the A-list top names. I stumped it with a few different members of the Legion of Super-Heroes, including Mon-El, one of the most recognizable. Due to the recent AVENGERS thread bad-mouthing the Swordsman, I figured – and correctly! – that he’d stump Akinator. ---
**Author:** ![Spectralist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Spectralist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectralist)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-one-game-dopers-found-that-had-the-computer-guessing-who-they-were/579627/65 "2011-04-26T00:18:31Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > It’s clearly not a straight binary tree, as evidenced by questions using “he” after deciding gender as female, repeated questions, and other weirdness like (“Does the character have a son?” after asking “Is the character under the age of 15?”). Must be probability based in some way. I don’t know what a binary tree is but it doesn’t appear to understand much if any relationship between the questions. Probably because users appear to be able to add questions. It very often does things like: “Is the character a red-head?” yes “is the character a brunette?” no “does the character have red hair?” Duh or “Does the character die a tragic death?” yes “Is the character dead?”… I don’t know how to answer that. Especially if it goes over 20 questions it seems to start asking the same question in different wording a lot. I had one where it asked me if the character was American 5 times with different wordings. ---
**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:** [April 26, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-one-game-dopers-found-that-had-the-computer-guessing-who-they-were/579627/66 "2011-04-26T00:55:18Z")
Of course, some of the questions, it has to ask to learn more about the character. The only way it can know that “Is the character under the age of 15?” “No” will usually lead to “Does the character have a son?” “No” is by asking that pair of questions many times. It doesn’t actually _understand_ any of the questions it asks. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-one-game-dopers-found-that-had-the-computer-guessing-who-they-were/579627/67 "2011-04-26T01:06:25Z")
There’s a difference, of course, between ‘Is the character American?’ ‘Is the character from America?’ ‘Does the character live in America?’ and ‘Is the character a citizen of the United States?’ I did a bunch of MLP characters…it got Pinkie Pie and Spike in 20 questions, and Scootaloo in 30. It got Rarity in 15. It got _Rarity’s cat_ in 17. Opal’s shown up in 3 episodes (Suited For Success, The Stare Master and Owl’s Well That Ends Well), and only had more than a minute or two on screen in Suited For Success… ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-one-game-dopers-found-that-had-the-computer-guessing-who-they-were/579627/68 "2011-04-26T01:10:29Z")
Wow, the question line leading to [Haifa Wehbe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haifa_Wehbe) was pretty rude. (“Is this character known for her breasts?”) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-one-game-dopers-found-that-had-the-computer-guessing-who-they-were/579627/69 "2011-04-26T01:14:32Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Wow, the question line leading to [Haifa Wehbe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haifa_Wehbe) was pretty rude. (“Is this character known for her breasts?”) Name one female character who’s _not_ known for her breasts. One way or the other. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-one-game-dopers-found-that-had-the-computer-guessing-who-they-were/579627/70 "2011-04-26T02:32:59Z")
I didn’t see that users could add questions. (It appears that option shows up only when you _lose_, which seems to be a rather odd way of doing things). That does make more sense as to how it fails. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-one-game-dopers-found-that-had-the-computer-guessing-who-they-were/579627/71 "2011-04-26T02:34:52Z")
Amazingly did not get Nuggets head coach George Karl in 20 guesses. Got it after about 25. ---
**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:** [April 26, 2011, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-one-game-dopers-found-that-had-the-computer-guessing-who-they-were/579627/72 "2011-04-26T03:17:31Z")
Quoth **Tengu** : > [@](#): > > There’s a difference, of course, between ‘Is the character American?’ ‘Is the character from America?’ ‘Does the character live in America?’ and ‘Is the character a citizen of the United States?’ True, but there’s enough correlation between those that an ideal algorithm would probably never ask more than one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-one-game-dopers-found-that-had-the-computer-guessing-who-they-were/579627/73 "2011-04-26T03:31:01Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > It’s clearly not a straight binary tree…Must be probability based in some way. It correctly guessed John Smoltz for me (in 20) _even though_ I gave three answers which were not what it would have expected for Smoltz (though my answers were definitely correct). ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-one-game-dopers-found-that-had-the-computer-guessing-who-they-were/579627/74 "2011-04-26T03:56:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > True, but there’s enough correlation between those that an ideal algorithm would probably never ask more than one of them. Not necessarily. I got both ‘Does the character live in America?’ and ‘Is the character a citizen of the US?’ in one. The answers were, respectively, yes, and no. Because I was doing Raj Koothrepalli (lives in Sacramento, is still an Indian citizen). Not getting both of those points covered wouldn’t be insurmountable for guessing him, but it would sure make the confidence lower. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-one-game-dopers-found-that-had-the-computer-guessing-who-they-were/579627/75 "2011-04-26T04:13:54Z")
The system seems to start breaking when you get too deep in–when user-entered questions come into play, perhaps? I was asked, for example, if my character had children, several questions _after_ I’d answered that yes, he did have _grandchildren_. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-one-game-dopers-found-that-had-the-computer-guessing-who-they-were/579627/76 "2011-04-26T04:28:17Z")
I defeated it with P.G.T. Beauregard, which was strange because it seemed to home in fairly quickly on the idea of a Confederate general, but then guessed Lee, Longstreet and Jackson rather randomly amidst a bunch of irrelevant-seeming questions. And again, questions whose answers should have been understood to be contained within previous answers–“has he been dead more than 20 years” _after_ an affirmative answer that he had participated in the American Civil War. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-one-game-dopers-found-that-had-the-computer-guessing-who-they-were/579627/77 "2011-04-26T04:30:10Z")
I beat it with the Archimage Binah from Black Trillium. (by Andre Norton, Julian May and Marion Zimmer-Bradley) ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-one-game-dopers-found-that-had-the-computer-guessing-who-they-were/579627/78 "2011-04-26T06:21:43Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Wow, the question line leading to [Haifa Wehbe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haifa_Wehbe) was pretty rude. (“Is this character known for her breasts?”) It asked me that when I was thinking of Power Girl 😃 29 questions to correctly name Isaac Asimov. I completely stumped it with [Maura from the Diesel Sweeties](http://www.dieselsweeties.com/newreaders/) webcomic. It’s first guess was Sasha Grey, probably because it asked the questions “Is your character a porn star?” and “Is your character associated with the color gray?” (I answered yes to the second question because Maura was dating Clango, the robot. But maybe he’s actually silver.) More Discworld: 16 questions to get Sam Vimes, but 30 to get Carrot. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-one-game-dopers-found-that-had-the-computer-guessing-who-they-were/579627/79 "2011-04-26T07:28:48Z")
It got Sonic the Hedgehog and Lee Kuan Yew. Bastard had PICTURES. Dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-one-game-dopers-found-that-had-the-computer-guessing-who-they-were/579627/80 "2011-04-26T08:35:02Z")
I defeated him with Dashiell Hammett. I was surprised how easily he got Maude Lebowski though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-one-game-dopers-found-that-had-the-computer-guessing-who-they-were/579627.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-one-game-dopers-found-that-had-the-computer-guessing-who-they-were/579627.md?page=5)