Google’s AI bot churns through 2,865 romance novels to boost conversation skills
A fledgling AI chat bot has been fed no less than 2,865 romance novels by parent Google in the latest effort to write automated conversation code which is indistinguishable from the ramblings of a real human.
Google wants to inject some personality and emotion into proceedings by picking up on the style and tropes prevalent in such linguistic delights as 'Unconditional Love' and 'Fatal Desire'.
By doing so it is hoped the bot will be able to read between the lines and pick up subtleties in human communication (such as sarcasm) which are lost on today’s romance-lite efforts.
Google engineer Andrew Dai explained the unconventional approach to The Verge: “It would be much more satisfying to ask Google questions if it really understood the nuances of what you were asking for, and could reply in a more natural and familiar way.
“It's like how you'd rather ask a friend about what do to in a vacation spot instead of calling their visitor center...”
The ultimate goal is natural language communication, with romance novels being singled out purely because of the repetitive structure most books adhere to, together with a diverse vocabulary, which makes replication easier.