Yes, you read that right. Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. To Thaler's point of view, almost all current bot and technology is symbolic, since humans are so involved in their creation and their functionality. It is humans that write the bot scripts and provide the rules for the scripts. On the other hand, neural networks can make their own rules, Thaler explained to the audience at BOT2001.
Neural networks can also continuously learn, and can also be creative.
Thaler's discussion takes on the appearance of a highly theoretical talk, discussing topics such as self-training artificial neurons, alert associative centers, and imagination engines. But Thaler has gone beyond the theoretical and into the practical by using built using cell references in a standard Excel spreadsheet. Each cell in the worksheet is a neural node, with the possibility of millions of nodes in an Excel workbook. Thaler has already applied this neural network technology to a variety of applications including, he likes to add, the design of a popular toothbrush. To demonstrate the technology for the BOT2001 attendees, Thaler brought his Semantic Parser application.