  We present Chirpy Cardinal, an open-domain dialogue agent, as a research
platform for the 2019 Alexa Prize competition. Building an open-domain
socialbot that talks to real people is challenging - such a system must meet
multiple user expectations such as broad world knowledge, conversational style,
and emotional connection. Our socialbot engages users on their terms -
prioritizing their interests, feelings and autonomy. As a result, our socialbot
provides a responsive, personalized user experience, capable of talking
knowledgeably about a wide variety of topics, as well as chatting
empathetically about ordinary life. Neural generation plays a key role in
achieving these goals, providing the backbone for our conversational and
emotional tone. At the end of the competition, Chirpy Cardinal progressed to
the finals with an average rating of 3.6/5.0, a median conversation duration of
2 minutes 16 seconds, and a 90th percentile duration of over 12 minutes.
