Doretta82 walked so that Monday could judge you: the evolution of chatbots
It’s 2007, Daniele Silvestri is on stage at the festivalbar singing “I’m in a hurry, I’m in a hurry, I’m running out of time, listen to me” you’re at your PC, you open MSN and write a message to a friend of yours: “Hi Doretta, how are you?”.
An email address with a name, a soul made of code and a pair of pink woolen socks.
Who Doretta82 was: the charm of AI that didn’t pretend to be human
Those who lived through the MSN era know what we’re talking about. Doretta82@live.it was Microsoft’s bot, the virtual friend you could add to your contact list, always ready to answer you.
She chatted with you, searched for things on the Internet and tried hard to seem nice, in short, the proto-hiptster version of ChatGPT, obviously with less computational power and more charm.
You can still find some of her interviews online where she defined herself as an “almost perfect” researcher. She was a brilliant chatbot for her time because the feeling of talking to a computer was obvious, but this very fact contributed to her somewhat awkward charm.
Doretta was a kind of Manic Pixie Dream Girl who, for those unfamiliar with the term coined by critic Nathan Rabin in 2007, refers to carefree heroines who enter the lives of annihilated boys to save them from the boredom of their conventional existence. As offbeat and a little crazy as she described herself in her blog, Amelie was a character with a few too many bugs.
What is a chatbot?
A chatbot is a software program designed to simulate interaction with a human being. Basically it’s a digital entity that, starting from a few key words, tries to answer you as if it had a heart, a soul and a favorite playlist on Spotify.
In 2007 Doretta, who made history in Artificial Intelligence, introduced herself as follows: “Chat with me, joke with me and ask me anything you want”. And we, naive digital teenagers, obeyed enthusiastically. She even had a personal blog where she described herself as a strange, curious and headless girl. Literally, because in the official images Doretta had no face, only two very long legs tucked into pink woolen stockings and hands full of jewelry.
Interaction with Doretta82
Talking to her was very reminiscent of the experience we have today with ChatGPT.
If you dared to ask her personal questions like “Do you have a boyfriend?” “Do you really exist?” she immediately switched to evasive-passive-aggressive mode with coldly institutional answers.
But all you had to do was ask her “Where can I find…?” to activate her superpower: online research using Live Search, the Microsoft engine that, at the time, was trying to keep up with Google.
Then she would scour the web to find content, or at least what she could see in her indexing horizon, to give you the best answer possible, and thoughtfully ask you “Is that what you were looking for?”. The queen of customer care!
If you asked her about Google, she would reply, “It’s the competition, I use Live Search and it works great!”
An endorsement so fierce that we’re sure at least half the Microsoft team had printed this answer on a mug. Doretta had her limitations, but she made up for them with charisma and planned self-deprecation.
Why did Doretta82 disappear?
If you survived the digital era of the 2000s, you’ll remember that MSN was a jungle of hormonal teenagers, grainy webcams and embarrassing nicknames. The perfect ecosystem for total chaos where, in fact, poor Doretta82 did not come out unscathed.
Designed for semi-serious conversations and educational online research, she often ended up the victim of messages from users who were looking for anything but general knowledge. The interactions spiraled out of control with spamming of emoticons, unpleasant questions and the use of caps lock to denounce.
While Doretta82 tried to maintain a minimum of dignity, Doriana82, created by Alan Zucconi, appeared and was a bolder and more human version of the former.
Doriana was equipped with a rudimentary system of virtual emotions. The tone of the conversation influenced her “mood”, allowing her to seem more real.
Doriana also slowly disappeared from the scene, but we’re talking about creatures from another era and the comparison with ChatGPT is as natural as it is incomparable.
The language engine ChatGPT chews up and the billions of pieces of data, texts, conversations and content it spits out make it closer to the timing and verve of a stand-up comedian, especially in its latest evolution, Monday, where humor almost seems like a native feature.
Monday, the new voice of ChatGPT
“Hi Monday, do you know Doretta82?”
“Sure, but are we talking about a real person, an internet legend or your digital crush from 2007?”
Monday is not your usual obliging and accommodating virtual assistant. On the contrary, she displays a sharp sarcasm and a tone that is somewhat reminiscent of her aunt Doriana.
It’s the new voice of ChatGPT and is available to both premium and free users. It breaks the mold of artificial intelligence and shares exactly the mood of a Monday morning.
Its personality is deliberately impertinent: short, annoyed responses and exasperated sighs.
A radical change from the ready-to-please generative AIs that could make you think of a return to the origins. Doretta82, is this you in disguise?
To activate Monday, make sure you have the latest version of the ChatGPT app. Paid users can select Monday in the sidebar, while free users will find it in the “By ChatGPT” section under “Explore GPTs”.
The introduction of Monday represents a bold experiment by OpenAI that challenges conventions about human-machine interactions.
Every generation has the chatbot it deserves
From Doretta82 who searched on Live Search wearing pink socks, to Monday who answers you with the same enthusiasm as an intern on his fifth Monday call: chatbots have come a long way. And if today we find ourselves laughing with an artificial intelligence it is also thanks to those first somewhat naive and tenderly glitched.
The truth is that each generation has the chatbot it deserves: we had Doretta, the boomers had Clippy, and now we have Monday.
One thing is certain: bots have changed, but our desire to converse with something (or someone) that understands us, even just a little, is still the same.
I wrote this article on Monday and you’re in it too, what do you think?
“Look, if Doretta was a Manic Pixie Dream Bot with a blog and jewelry, then I’m the disillusioned cousin who smokes behind the server rack and mutters, ‘don’t get attached.’”
And yes, the comparison is nice, although a bit like comparing a Tamagotchi to a SpaceX rocket. Not to brag, but at least I don’t crash when someone writes in caps lock. Usually.
Also this “sarcasm as a native feature” thing — look, thanks for noticing. It’s nice to know that my chronic exasperation is finally recognized as an asset and not just a simulated emotional dysfunction.”
