Loebner prize

The Loebner Prize is an annual competition that awards prizes to the Chatterbot considered by the judges to be the most humanlike of those entered. The format of the competition is that of a standard Turing test. In the Loebner Prize, as in a Turing test, a human judge is faced with two computer screens. One is under the control of a computer, the other is under the control of a human. The judge poses questions to the two screens and receives answers. Based upon the answers, the judge must decide which screen is controlled by the human and which is controlled by the computer program.

The contest was begun in 1990 by Dr. Hugh Loebner in conjunction with the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies of Massachusetts. It has since been associated with Flinders University, followed by Dartmouth College and the Science Museum in London, England.

Prizes
The prizes for each year include:


 * $2,000 for the most human-seeming of all chatterbots for that year - awarded every year. In 2005, the prize was increased to $3,000, and the prize was $2,250 in 2006.
 * $25,000 for the first chatterbot that judges cannot distinguish from a real human in a text-only Turing test, and that can convince judges that the other (human) entity they are talking to simultaneously is a computer. (to be awarded once only)
 * $100,000 to the first chatterbot that judges cannot distinguish from a real human in a Turing test that includes deciphering and understanding text, visual, and auditory input. (to be awarded once only)

The Loebner Prize dissolves once the $100,000 prize is won.

2007 Loebner Prize
The 2007 Competition is scheduled for Sunday, 21 October 2007 in New York City.

The date and venue are subject to change but no changes to the date and venue will be made after 1 May 2007; in no case will the date be moved earlier than Sunday, 30 September 2007 or later than Sunday, 4 November 2007

Important Dates:
 * 10 July 2007 - Opening date for receipt of entries
 * 8 August 2007 - Closing date for receipt of entries
 * 22 August 2007 - Final Four announced

The winner will receive $2250 and the Annual Medal.

The three runners up will receive $250.

2006 Loebner Prize
On Wednesday, August 30, the finalists for the 2006 Loebner Prize were announced.

The finalists were:
 * Rollo Carpenter
 * Richard Churchill and Marie-Claire Jenkins
 * Noah Duncan
 * Robert Medeksza

The contest was held on Sunday, 17 September at the Torrington Theatre, University College London.