Wednesday, September 14, 2011

"World's first" English language learning chatbot

This video is actually posted on the website of the company hawking this "service". Incredibly, they're charging people to put themselves through this kind of torture.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is beyond awful! How anyone would pay for this is beyond my imagination.

Brett said...

Indeed, it is hideous. But most of the media coverage is entirely uncritical.

Q Higuchi said...

Am I too cynical in thinking that this whole thing might actually be a joke (or may at least have been originated as a joke)? Like, some frustrated eikaiwa teachers sardonically decided to automate what they do every day? Having worked in the industry before, I am half serious.

Taken as such, this clip can be hilarious - it actually made me crack up. But if this is for really real, well, I am speechless.

In any case, it is good to be aware how twisted this world can get. I mean, man, I am still shaking my head ...

Brett said...

My wife suggested that it must be a joke. The whole family was laughing watching it.