"I'd buy that for a dollar!" RIP

January 2, 2014 10:52 AM

Requiem for a Twitter Bot - Bixby Snyder bot is no more.
posted by Artw (18 comments total)

. $
posted by ignignokt at 11:07 AM on January 2, 2014

That's a pretty heady statement of purpose, there. All it did for me was make me wary of mentioning ED-209 or Robocop on Twitter. It was like a joy buzzer rather than something that made me think, "Yeah, you know what? I'm gonna raise the level of discourse today!"
posted by ignignokt at 11:10 AM on January 2, 2014

As someone who has had many conversations with Bixby I think he has transcended his creator.
posted by Artw at 11:14 AM on January 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

Hashtag TheFutureOfLawEnforcementIsDead
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:15 AM on January 2, 2014

so does that mean he turned down the offer from the studio pr flacks to sponsor some tweets for the new movie ?

#guesshispricewasmorethanadollar.

yes, I saw he's not down with promoting the new movie
posted by k5.user at 11:16 AM on January 2, 2014

I'm not sure why they need a new Robocop movie. It's not like we need another Judge Dredd movie where they can't manage to keep the helmet on.
posted by ckape at 11:32 AM on January 2, 2014

I'm pretty sure the new thing will go the way of the new Total Recall movie, if you remember that (I have difficulty).
posted by Artw at 11:36 AM on January 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

I don't think bots should be retired. I think they should be left to run indefinitely, long after the cultural context in which they made sense (if there was one) is gone.

That said, trying to make the point that "99% of the content on Twitter is total garbage" with a trivial bot seems pretty... lightweight. Twitter is what you make of it; I follow people that post so much good stuff it's overwhelming.
posted by jjwiseman at 11:40 AM on January 2, 2014 [4 favorites]

.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 12:07 PM on January 2, 2014

It's not like we need another Judge Dredd movie where they can't manage to keep the helmet on.

We *totally* needed Dredd (2012). It's amazing. In a not sarcastic way. I mean, I'm not being sarcastic.
posted by mikelieman at 12:14 PM on January 2, 2014 [4 favorites]

Artw: "I'm pretty sure the new thing will go the way of the new Total Recall movie, if you remember that (I have difficulty)."

Just remember, when chemical weapons kill off 99% of the planet's population and render nearly all of the liveable areas uninhabitable, the only two places on the globe with breathable air will be the UK and Australia. *eyeroll*
posted by zarq at 12:23 PM on January 2, 2014 [2 favorites]

It's a trap! (Akbar's still there right?)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 12:27 PM on January 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

Aw, man. Every time I tweeted about RoboCop (which happens a lot) I looked forward to hearing from that bot. I got a response not too long ago.
posted by brundlefly at 1:12 PM on January 2, 2014 [2 favorites]

Sad. It was indistinguishable from your average meme-addled geek, so a real step forward for AI in some ways...
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 1:21 PM on January 2, 2014

mikelieman: Oh I agree completely, that's one of the main reasons we don't need this Robocop remake. And why I made the distinction about keeping the helmet on.
posted by ckape at 1:24 PM on January 2, 2014

the only two places on the globe with breathable air will be the UK and Australia

Go for Australia, I've had two weeks of Brussels sprouts.
posted by biffa at 4:50 PM on January 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

My favorite bot is the Joe McCarthy bot that may send you something pithy if you mention Communism, especially the inevitable people that take it seriously and start arguing with it.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 9:40 PM on January 2, 2014 [2 favorites]

There should be a bot that seeks out harsh vibes and sends Emergency Kittens RTs.
posted by Artw at 9:47 PM on January 2, 2014 [1 favorite]