What we learned from bots, before they were cool

GUEST: Last week I bumped into Robert Hoffer, the famed creator of SmarterChild, the automated chatbot that used to sit at the very top of everyone’s AIM Buddy List.
Above: Robert HofferImage Credit: Robert Hoffer
For many people, it was the first experience conversing with a pre-programmed tool over a traditionally human-to-human channel. While learning more about SmarterChild’s childhood from Robert, I was reminded of the time before chatbots were “cool.”
Long befo