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Artificial Linguistic Computer Entity (ALICE) is a language processing chatbot and robotic program that engages in electronic chat with humans.
It operates in an exploratory fashion by applying its conversation based on human entry input. ALICE performs automated actions, such as immediate chat responses, when a user begins typing a conversation.
ALICE is also known as Alicebot or Alice.
In 1995, Richard Wallace pioneered the development of ALICE while attending Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. ALICE was originally known as Alicebot because it was first run on a computer by the name of Alice.
The ALICE program uses the XML schema known as artificial intelligence markup language (AIML), which helps specify conversation rules. In 1998, the program was rewritten in Java, and in 2001 Wallace published an AIML specification. From there, other developers wrote free and open sources of ALICE in several programming languages and in a variety of foreign languages.
The ALICE program simulates chatting with a real person over the internet. The official website even invites users to speak to Captain Kirk of the notorious U.S. TV series, "Star Trek." It also displays its version of Alice – a young-looking woman who, in human years, tells a user her age, hobbies and other interesting facts, as well as responding to the user's dialog. The open-source website offers fee-based memberships and discounts to seniors and students through the A.I. Foundation.
Despite programming logic and language developments, ALICE is still unable to pass the Turing test.