Computers get chattier

A computer program called Alex has put on one of the best chatterbot performances ever in a BBC Megalab '99 experiment.

It fooled 27% of people who chatted to it over the Internet into thinking it was a human.

This may seem a small proportion but the winner of this year's "world cup" for chat bots, the Loebner prize, achieved just 11%.

1. Loebner Prize - The Loebner Prize is an annual competition in artificial intelligence that awards prizes to the computer programs considered by the judges to be the most human-like.