January 31, 2002
Instant messenger: artificial buddies
THE INSTANT Instant Messenger (IM) service which enables us to chat in real time with our friends/clients is so popular that it would be difficult to find a Netizen who has not used or at least heard of it. This week we will look at a service that deploys the IM technology to allow us chat with intelligent web agents — ``artificial buddies''— that are capable of providing specific information.