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"  Perhaps you&amp;#039;ve always wanted to talk to a chatbot therapist, but found that the available versions could wax poetic about the cosmos or make you feel small and insignificant enough. No more: Programmers Brian Fountain and Andrew Pinzler built the &amp;quot;Doctor Carl&amp;quot; bot, a project they created in a 24-hour period at the American Museum of Natural History&amp;#039;s Hackathon.  The chat is based on Carl Sagan (though they should be wary of naming any tech after the astronomer). Instead of offering direct advice, the bot sounds off platitudes about the magnitude of the universe, letting you know for sure that all of your problems are puny third-planet-around-a-small-star problems. After all, there are probably microbes on Ceres that would kill to be a sentient, multicellular being.  So let&amp;#039;s check in with Doctor Carl and see what he has to tell me. Doctor Carl: Please tell me your name. Me: John DC: Nice to meet you, John. Please tell me what&amp;#039;s been bothering you.  Me: I can&amp;#039;t seem to quit procrastinating in the morning.  DC: Skepticism is the chastity of the intellect, and it is shameful to surrender it too soon or to the first comer, John. Me: So should I just try going to sleep earlier? DC: Every night we die and every dawn we are reborn. Such a dangerous game, John. Me: Should I try valerian root?  DC: The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent, John. Me: Is that a yes or a no? DC: That is interesting. It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring, please continue John. Me: Really, I just want to feel rested. DC: The idea that god is an oversized white male with a flowing beard who sits in the sky and tallies the fall of every sparrow is ludicrous. But if by God one means the set of physical laws that govern the universe, then clearly there is such a god. This god is emotionally unsatisfying ... it does not make much sense to pray to the law of gravity, John. Me: Good talk. DC: Our preferences do not determine what&amp;#039;s true, John. Me: I&amp;#039;m going to go now. DC: Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, John. Me: Goodbye, Doctor.  DC: Goodbye. I&amp;#039;m looking forward to our next session, John.  I think I&amp;#039;m cured. Of what I can&amp;#039;t be sure. Via The Atlantic. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a13125/talking-to-this-chatbot-carl-sagan-will-not-solve-billions-and-billions-of-your-problems-17418865/>