Subscribe to one of our news e-mail lists . Experimental projects like hers point to a future where bots will do much more than communicate through text. Created in part to study how trust is built into communication skills, REA responds to her human clients by giving tours of virtual homes. These blobs tell her what she needs to know about body language, such as whether a person is present or leaving, talking or listening. The more common form is an Internet creature called an avatar, or bot, which communicates through written word.
Humans type in comments and bots display responses.
We're talking artificial intelligence here, not artificial stupidity. There's no reason to get snippy, Bruce. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, dummy. Bots greet potential customers, educate them on offerings and direct them to relevant Web pages. Pages will open in a new browser window External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.