Call for Participation: 1994 Loebner Prize Competition

From: Robert Epstein 
Subject: Loebner Application/Rules (fwd)
To: mlm@CS.CMU.EDU
Date: Mon, 28 Mar 1994 09:54:44 -0800 (PST)

LOEBNER PRIZE COMPETITION IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE APPLICATION FOR THE 1994 PRIZE COMPETITION

The Loebner Prize Competition in Artificial Intelligence was established in 1990 by the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies to further the scientific understanding of complex human behavior. The Loebner Prize Medal and a cash award will be given annually to the designer of the computer system that best succeeds in passing a modern variant of the Turing Test. In 1994 the cash award will be $2,000, and the amount will be increased from time to time. Initially, the test will be simplified to give current computer systems a reasonable chance of successfully imitating human beings. In 1995 and periodically thereafter, an open-ended Turing Test will be conducted. At some point, should a computer system succeed in passing the test in all its particulars--in other words, should human judges be unable to distinguish the computer system from a human being--a grand prize of at least $100,000 will be awarded, and the prize will be discontinued.

Applications for the 1993 competition must be postmarked by November 1, 1994. Submissions will be evaluated and screened and no more than eight finalists selected by November 21, 1994. The 1994 finalists will compete in a simultaneous and real-time competition on Monday, December 12, 1994, in San Diego, California.

Applications must be accompanied by a non-refundable fee ($10 U.S.A. for individuals, $25 U.S.A. for groups or institutions), as well as by printed protocols recording interactions between the computer system to be entered and one or more human subjects. Protocols must not exceed ten typewritten double-spaced pages. The Committee may request an opportunity to interact with the candidate program. Transcripts and scores from the 1991, 1992, and 1993 competitions may be obtained by contacting the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies at 617-491-9020.

Please review the accompanying rules carefully and provide the following information:

Name of Entrant: ___________________

Professional Title of Entrant (if applicable): ___________________

Affiliation (if applicable): ___________________

Contact Person (if applicable): ___________________

Address: _____________________
____________________________
____________________________

Telephone Number(s): ___________________
E-Mail Address: ___________________

Topic of Discourse for the 1994 Prize Competition (5 words maximum): ___________________

Computer hardware to be employed (optional): ___________________

Computer software to be employed (optional): ___________________

__Enclosed is a check or money order for $_____ payable to Loebner Prize Competition ($10 U.S.A. for individuals, $25 U.S.A. for groups or institutions).

__Enclosed is a protocol recording interactions between the computer system to be entered and one or more human subjects (maximum 10 typewritten double-spaced pages).

Mail completed applications to: Robert Epstein, Ph.D., Contest Director, Loebner Prize Competition, 1087 Woodlake Drive, Cardiff by the Sea, CA 92007-1009 U.S.A. For further information, contact Dr. Epstein at repstein@nunic.nu.edu, or by telephone at 619-436-4400 (fax 4490).

OFFICIAL RULES 1994 LOEBNER PRIZE COMPETITION

1. The objective of the 1994 Loebner Prize Competition is to identify the computer system that can best succeed in passing a modern variant of the Turing Test. Judges will attempt to distinguish computer systems (referred to henceforward as "contes- tants") from human beings (referred to henceforward as "confeder- ates" or "human confederates") based on interactions with these entities over computer terminals.

2. Applicants may be individuals, organizations, businesses, schools, corporations, institutions, or other entities. Individu- als need not have institutional affiliations. Applicants may be of any nationality or age. Applicants may submit more than one entry during the same year, but a separate application must be completed for each entry.

3. Employees, affiliates, and agents of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies, Crown Industries, Inc., or of other official contest sponsors, as well as members of the families of such individuals, are not eligible to apply.

4. Applications for the 1994 Prize competition must be made on an official application form (or facsimile) and must be accompanied by a non-refundable application fee ($10 U.S.A. for individuals, $25 U.S.A. for groups). Applications must be postmarked by November 1, 1994. Applications should be submitted to: Robert Epstein, Contest Director, Loebner Prize Competition, 1087 Woodlake Drive, Cardiff by the Sea, CA 92007-1009 U.S.A.

5. For the 1994 competition, applicants must specify a single domain of discourse in which their computer system will be proficient. The domain must be in good taste and must be expressed by a single English phrase containing no more than five words. No domain will be excluded a priori; however, applicants are discour- aged from choosing highly specialized or esoteric topics that would make their systems easy to distinguish from ordinary human beings.

6. Computer entries may contain standard or customized software and hardware. The hardware may be of any type as long as it is inorganic and as long as its replies are in no manner controlled by human beings or other organic systems in real time.

7. For the 1994 competition, entrants must be prepared to interface their systems to standard computer terminals over telephone lines at 2400 baud.

8. For the 1994 competition, computer entries must communicate using approximations of natural English, and they must be prepared to communicate for an indefinite period of time.

9. Applications must be accompanied by printed protocols recording actual interactions between the system to be entered and one or more human beings. The protocols may not exceed ten double-spaced typewritten pages.

10. Application materials will be evaluated by the Loebner Prize Committee or its representatives. The Committee reserves the right to have its members or representatives interact with the candidate program as part of the evaluation process. Applicants will be notified of the Committee's decisions by November 21, 1994. No more than eight entries will be selected as finalists to compete in a real-time and simultaneous contest to be held in San Diego, California, on Monday, December 12, 1994.

11. Judges and human confederates for the 1994 competition will be selected by the Prize Committee. The Committee will make reason- able efforts to select judges who have no special expertise in computer science or any prior knowledge about any of the contes- tants or human confederates.

12. Judges will have one or more opportunities to interact with each of the computer terminals available concurrently during the contest. Judges will be instructed to restrict their communica- tions to the domain of discourse posted by each terminal and to pose their communications in an approximation of natural English. They will be informed that at least two of the terminals are controlled by human confederates and that at least two of the terminals are controlled by computers.

13. The Prize Committee reserves the right to have one or more referees present who may limit the judges' communications.

14. The conversations generated during the contest will be displayed on screens in real time, and an audience will be present. The conversations will be recorded, and the recordings will remain the property of the Loebner Prize Competition, which will also retain the copyright on transcripts or other representations, magnetic or otherwise, of the recordings.

15. The Prize Committee reserves the right to buffer the responses of the human confederate or confederates in order to correct typing irregularities.

16. Domains of discourse of the confederates will be selected by the Prize Committee. Confederates will be instructed to answer questions about other domains by saying, "I'm sorry, I can only talk about fishing today," "I can't talk about that," and so on. Applicants are advised to protect their programs in a similar fashion.

17. Judges will not be allowed to interact with each other and will be instructed to provide individual ratings of each of the computer terminals, based on their assessment of the appropriate- ness and responsiveness of the replies.

18. The 1994 Loebner Prize Medal and a $2,000 cash award will be given to the designer of the computer system with the highest overall median score, based strictly on the ratings of the contest judges. Mean scores will be used only to break a tie.

19. The winning entry may, at the discretion of the Prize Committee, be required to submit to one or more verification procedures to ensure that the computer system's performance is in no manner guided by human beings or other organic systems in real time.

20. The names "Loebner Prize" and "Loebner Prize Competition" may be used by contestants in advertising only by advance written permission of the Contest Director in return for ten percent of gross revenues received on sales (or some other percentage established by mutual agreement). Advertising will be subject to approval by representatives of the Loebner Prize Competition. Improper or misleading advertising may result in revocation of the prize and/or other penalties.

21. Inquiries may be directed to Robert Epstein, Ph.D., Contest Director, Loebner Prize Competition, 1087 Woodlake Drive, Cardiff by the Sea, CA 92007-1009 U.S.A. Internet: repstein@nunic.nu.edu. Telephone: 619-436-4400 (fax 4490).

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PRIZE COMMITTEE

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