Web Worker Daily

Now you can create a chatbot cybertwin who will instant message in your place even when you’re not available:

An Australian upstart on Monday introduced MyCyberTwin, an early version of software that lets people create and customize a virtual personality that can chat with others while they’re offline. Liesl Capper, co-founder of RelevanceNow, which built MyCyberTwin, said the so-called chat bot technology can be used on blogs, dating sites or in social networks like MySpace by cutting and pasting code from the site onto the third-party page.

This could be really helpful for you virtual workers with old-fashioned bosses who want you to be ready to IM any time they are, bosses who still believe in a face time rather than workstreaming culture. It could also protect you from the virtual team chatty Cathy or chatty Carl who wants personal therapy or endless gossip sessions by instant message every day.

To create your twin, enter your name, birth date, gender, city, and country. After confirming your registration by email, you can add a display picture and display name then choose from five basic personality types on the MyPersonality page including “Cheeky, Intellectual: You like to think, to read, to explore. You are witty, even acerbic at times.” You can also take a 79-question personality test that will characterize you along a variety of dimensions including Intense versus Stable and Modern versus Traditional Valuer, then use the results to personalize your twin.

To make your twin even more like you, you can train it on such topics as Insults, Philosophy, and Drugs in MyClassroom. You train it by writing your typical responses to statements like “Tell me about your favorite alcoholic drink” (that’s from Drugs) or “You are crazy” (that’s from Insults). MyCyberTwin offers tips on responding like “Avoid answering with just a YES or a NO” and “Use the [CLIENT_NAME] tag” which embeds the name of the person you’re chatting with into your response. Unfortunately, none of the topics are very useful for the working world.

You can even submit custom content on the MyContent page so your virtual personality will become ever more like you. The custom content includes your opinions, questions you’d like your twin to ask, and frequently asked questions you expect with answers. Future plans include the ability to read RSS content such as blog posts. This custom content training is where you might be able to make your cybertwin into a CyberTwinPro, capable of handling requests and other conversation from your boss or colleagues alike.

People can chat with your CyberTwin via MSN Messenger, on your CyberTwin web page, or via widgets you can embed on your website. It’s probably not an answer to your facetime-obsessed boss yet, but the possibilities are exciting, nonetheless.