Fireside Chatbot

Svitlana Matviyenko points out the existence of a John McCain chatbot that might be of interest to those who think about how our contemporary political processes may remind one of Warren Weaver's observations about the pseudo-interactivity of the "Horses of Elberfeld" in the 19th century.

After a negative experience with a supposed anti-McCain Wesley Clark chatbot who tediously started every instant message with a phrase beginning "Yes, I do honor his service . . .," I'm not sure that the talking points of political chatbots are much fun.

Nonetheless, it is interesting to see the number of disclaimers that the developers of the McCain chatbot present to forestall any litigiousness among potential users:

The Robotsin2008.com "chat bots" are:
- Not real people
- Not the real candidates running for office in 2008
- Not affiliated with the candidates their political parties
- Not paid directly by any political party or affiliated organization
- Do not represent the full, complete or accurate views of the real candidates
- Not endorsed by the candidates
- Not directly funded by anyone associated with politics
- Funded through sponsored ads matched to these pages through 3rd party ad systems
- Funded through affiliate links to book or other merchandise associated with candidates
- Intended for your entertainment only