A couple months ago I was interviewed for an article being written about AI bots for New York Magazine. It turns out the article turned into a piece about the creator of ALICE, one of the most well known and arguably the most human-like AI bot yet created, but it's nevertheless an extremely interesting piece.

Free registration is required, but it's a good read. His story reminds me a lot of that of Howard Beck, the creator of the London Underground map, and how his devotion to the map (even decades after he had been let go by the London Transit Authority) took over his time, personality, and life.

I wonder whether these projects end up wrecking their creators, or if they are simply byproducts of an inevitable journey.

Now, with that, let me say that I'm hard at work finishing as many of my own mothballed projects before heading off to Pittsburgh. Don't worry though, I won't let them be the boss of me.