[MUD-Dev] Socrates - A brief look at AI(?)

[Jon A. Lambert]

> From: Huibai <ashen at pixi.com>
> To: mud-dev at null.net
> Subject: [MUD-Dev]  META: Making the list public?
> Date: Wednesday, July 16, 1997 7:21 PM
> 
> 
> *note* : I'm currently studying the philosophic dialogues,
>   as written by Plato, between Socrates and the sophists,
>   so the following ideas are my musings coming from there :)
> 

Oh I couldn't resist.  Feel free to drop my an email Hubai, if you wish
to muse or provide observations on this fellow.    

I'm a big fan of Socrates.  So much so that he has become the basis of a 
crude and irritating AI engine.  What I have done is taken the commonly
available Eliza code and added the ability of it to remember the last
pronouncement issued with the speaker.  In addition I've provided a
checkpointing and backtracking mechanism within the database of arguments.

While being somewhat mindless, it does capture the flavor of the Socratic
argument.  It's currently configured with data from Charmides, a debate 
about true love and obsession.  I hope to add additional argument threads
to him.  It is a painstaking process and is not really AI at all.  Perhaps
it more resembles an infant expert system. 

What Socrates essential does is ask questions of the speaker in the 
"traditional" manner.  Socrates of course attempts to elicit and goad 
the "proper" answers ahead of time.  These are usually yes or no.  Sometimes 
a multiple choice.  Any player attempts at deviation from this format cause 
Socrates to go into a tirade that one must follow his lead or all discussion 
will be unproductive.  Should a player answer incorrectly, Socrates chides 
the player for their ignorance and encourages them to bear with him 
while he attempts a new angle.  A short backtrack is taken.  Should the
player attempt once again to avoid the inevitable a much longer treck 
backward is taken.  From these backtrack points, a new argument thread 
is chosen.  Right now these are pretty limited given the scenario. 

The end result is that Socrates is always correct and the hopefully 
infuriating.  


JL