Chat program scoops the prize for being almost human

Her name is Joan; she is just a few years old and very talkative... and now she is officially the world's most human computer program.

On Sunday, the computer-generated character scooped the prestigious Loebner prize for artificial intelligence, seeing off some of the world's most hi-tech creations in the process.

Joan's maker, the British entrepreneur Rollo Carpenter, emerged victorious after a day of intense competition as a quartet of software experts attempted to pass the famous "Turing test" and scoop a purse of $100,000 in the process.

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.

2. Artificial Intelligence - Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence demonstrated by machines, as opposed to the natural intelligence displayed by animals and humans.

3. Turing Test - The Turing test, developed by Alan Turing in 1950, is a test of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human.