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<Paper uid="W98-1233">
  <Title>Introducing MegaHAL</Title>
  <Section position="8" start_page="0" end_page="0" type="concl">
    <SectionTitle>
5 Conclusion
</SectionTitle>
    <Paragraph position="0"> MegaHAL uses a technique which differs significantly from that used by previous entrants to the Loebner contest. It has been submitted in 1998 for the purpose of demonstrating a different method of simulating conversation. Although its replies are occasionally lucid, MegaHAL is most definitely not an Artificial Intelligence; we must be careful not to read too much into what it says.</Paragraph>
    <Paragraph position="1"> The Loebner contest does offer some benefits (Loebner, 1994); it provides an annual Turing test for anyone who cares to submit an entry, it promotes and stimulates interest in the field of Artificial Intelligence, it encourages competition, it could conceivably result in new techniques which may be applicable to fields outside of Artificial Intelligence and it stimulates discussion amongst researchers. Even so, we believe that the contest is not advancing the field of Artificial Intelligence because, although the $2000 is a guaranteed reward, it is not a large enough carrot to entice serious research groups.</Paragraph>
    <Paragraph position="2"> Perhaps the most important contribution of the Loebner contest is the insight it provides into the psychology of communication--it makes us aware of how little our understanding of conversation lies in what is said.</Paragraph>
  </Section>
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