Answers.Body: <p>Yes, it <em>is</em> possible, and has actually been done in the past.</p>
  
  <p>The University of Antwerp created a <a href="http://bvasiles.github.io/papers/chi16bot.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">bot to answer questions</a> (<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/o9tk8xtauyexn5c/Internship2DaanJanssensFinished.pdf?dl=0" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this is the technical report</a>). It focused on the <a href="/questions/tagged/git" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;git&#39;" rel="tag">git</a> tag only though (even though it did answer one <a href="/questions/tagged/mysql" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;mysql&#39;" rel="tag">mysql</a> question).</p>
  
  <p>Its accuracy was pretty good, and the bots in the tests did earn some reputation. So I assume it is possible.</p>
  
  <p>But do note that the last bot in the tests revealed that it was a bot, and thus got banned. So if you reveal that the account you are running the bot on is a bot, there is a high chance that it will get banned.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2016-11-06T13:34:27.573Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2016-11-06T13:34:27.573Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Box Box Box Box
Answers.Body: <p>Technically, creating a non-human account on Stack Exchange would violate the Terms of Service. You would have to find some way to keep it from getting banned.</p>
  
  <p>That having been said, creating, and learning are always good things. It would be a somewhat complex task, but I'm sure you would learn a lot from it. There are plenty of bots out that use the questions and answers from Stack Exchange already, but none directly on the site. </p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2016-11-06T20:30:19.823Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2016-11-07T17:01:33.643Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2016-11-07T17:01:33.643Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Tyler Heldreth
Body: <p>I was wondering if I should do this, because 2 out of 5 questions on Stack Overflow don't ever get answered, or if they do get (an) answer (s), most of the time they're not helpful.</p>
  
  <p>So I was thinking -- why not create a chat bot to answer Stack Overflow's questions &amp; provide necessary information to the general public?</p>
  
  <p>I mean why not? I've always been interested in AI, and all I'd need to do is create a basic logic database and a context system, pack an artificial personality with (partial) human instincts, and bam I'm done.</p>
  
  <p>But then again, would it be ethical?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2016-11-07T07:50:52.687Z
Comments.Text: "all I'd need to do". You seem to me to be rather optimistic about the ability of known AI techniques to emulate even the poorest of answers. You've also been extremely sketchy on detail. In any event, the burden of proof is on you.
Comments.UserDisplayName: NietzscheanAI
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2016-11-08T22:28:36.697Z
Comments.Text: This is a really interesting question! Ethics, though, is very broad. If you could narrow down the ethical concern you have, I think we could give more helpful answers.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Ben N
Tags: <natural-language-processing><human-like><ethics>
Title: Is it ethical to create a chatbot to answer questions on Stack Overflow?
UserDisplayName: Bored
ThreadText: # Is it ethical to create a chatbot to answer questions on Stack Overflow?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2016-11-06)
  
  I was wondering if I should do this, because 2 out of 5 questions on Stack Overflow don't ever get answered, or if they do get (an) answer (s), most of the time they're not helpful.
  
  So I was thinking -- why not create a chat bot to answer Stack Overflow's questions & provide necessary information to the general public?
  
  I mean why not? I've always been interested in AI, and all I'd need to do is create a basic logic database and a context system, pack an artificial personality with (partial) human instincts, and bam I'm done.
  
  But then again, would it be ethical?
  
  **Tags:** natural-language-processing, human-like, ethics
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: "all I'd need to do". You seem to me to be rather optimistic about the ability of known AI techniques to emulate even the poorest of answers. You've also been extremely sketchy on detail. In any event, the burden of proof is on you.  
  > **username_2**: This is a really interesting question! Ethics, though, is very broad. If you could narrow down the ethical concern you have, I think we could give more helpful answers.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_3 on 2016-11-06. Score: 3 | Accepted answer
  
  Yes, it *is* possible, and has actually been done in the past.
  
  The University of Antwerp created a [bot to answer questions](http://bvasiles.github.io/papers/chi16bot.pdf) ([this is the technical report](https://www.dropbox.com/s/o9tk8xtauyexn5c/Internship2DaanJanssensFinished.pdf?dl=0)). It focused on the [git](/questions/tagged/git "show questions tagged 'git'") tag only though (even though it did answer one [mysql](/questions/tagged/mysql "show questions tagged 'mysql'") question).
  
  Its accuracy was pretty good, and the bots in the tests did earn some reputation. So I assume it is possible.
  
  But do note that the last bot in the tests revealed that it was a bot, and thus got banned. So if you reveal that the account you are running the bot on is a bot, there is a high chance that it will get banned.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_4 on 2016-11-06. Score: 0
  
  Technically, creating a non-human account on Stack Exchange would violate the Terms of Service. You would have to find some way to keep it from getting banned.
  
  That having been said, creating, and learning are always good things. It would be a somewhat complex task, but I'm sure you would learn a lot from it. There are plenty of bots out that use the questions and answers from Stack Exchange already, but none directly on the site.
  
  
  ---
  
  