Recently, I was searching the net for scientific progress in development of artificial intelligence. (I am a big fan of A.C.Clarke's HAL supercomputer introduced in 2001: A space Odyssey novel).
I found web pages about "Loebner Prize". Each year an annual prize of $2000 and a bronze medal is awarded to the most human-like computer.
http://www.loebner.net/Prizef/loebner-prize.html
These pages led me to A.L.I.C.E - The Artificial Linguistic Internet Computer Entity.
http://www.pandorabots.com/pandora/talk?botid=f5d92 2d97e345aa1
Butter