A recent project:
Environmental charity, Restore the Earth, today launched a new breed of web service encouraging people to take simple, positive actions for the environment. The campaign builds on Twitter using software developed by Edinburgh-based Artificial Intelligence consultancy, Winterwell. The campaign is being launched at the Live Nation concert with a video appeal voiced by Joanna Lumley.
Restore the Earth encourages people to take positive steps. The cumulative effect of these “handprints” will help to reverse ecological damage happening around the world. “The Handprint symbolizes our positive and proactive relationship to the Earth, as opposed to the negative “footprint” concept frequently referred to in the media,” said Andreas Kornevall of Restore the Earth. . The new system builds on Twitter, the popular micro-blogging service. The service has garnered media attention thanks to high-profile users like Stephen Fry. Twitter users, known as twitterati, exchange text-message sized descriptions of their current activities. This makes it a perfect fit for Restore the Earth’s handprint campaign.
But with Twitter’s popularity comes a problem: the campaign aims to generate thousands of handprints – far more than the Restore the Earth team can handle. So they asked Winterwell to build custom “chatbot” software to lighten the load. Founded by Dr Joe Halliwell and Dr Daniel Winterstein, Winterwell specializes in innovative intelligent software.
“Our twitterbot engages with the public and tries to respond intelligently to the greetings, questions and handprints it receiveŃ•,” said Halliwell. “We can’t anticipate everything that people might say so our software is designed to learn as it goes. Artificial intelligence can’t yet handle a real conversation. But we think it can do just enough to be useful.”
You can get involved with the handprint campaign by following @rtearth on Twitter.
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