Is it really artificial intelligence?

A lot of people have asked this question. There are many definitions of AI, and the correct answer depends on the application. For example, here is one definition:

"The ability of a computer to perform tasks, such as reasoning and learning, that human intelligence is capable of doing"

Botego does learn, but the learning process for this commercial software has to be human-controlled. Consider the alternative: if Botego independently uses the information based on statistical analysis of user input, it could easily be mistaken. Remember how Google bombers manipulated search results using the partially-disclosed Google pagerank algorithm? For a product like Botego serving in customer relations, such an incident is unacceptable. With such possibilities in mind, we chose to limit the "intelligence" of Botego, to a certain extent.

Here are two more descriptions of AI which also apply to Botego:

"A generic term commonly used to indicate the inclusion in software of some type of automated application of rules, the results of which give the appearance of 'intelligence' on the part of the computer. An example would be a computer which uses language rules to carry on a conversation with the human using the computer."

"Computational techniques to automate tasks that require human intelligence and the ability to reason."

The terms "intelligence", "learn", and "think" in these definitions are usually in quotes. That seems to be an acknowledgment of the limits of artificial intelligence. But we don't care about the limits. As long as you achieve the expected outcome, it doesn't matter whether you succeed on the Turing Test

If you're a scientist who has spent decades on the science of AI, you're free to call our technology "simple pattern matching". Fair enough. Just be advised that our goal is to satisfy the 90% of what we call "reasonable users*", and so far this goal is accomplished.

Our technology depends 40% on the algorithm and 60% on the content. So even if it was only the content we cared for (which is not the case, as we are improving our algorithm), a 200% increase in our content database would result in a 120% increase in the total success of the application. That improvement is impressive and very easy to achieve!


* Anyone who is aware that Botego is a software tool that doesn't claim to know everything.