Cyber robot answers for you

A new online service that not only answers incoming messages when you are offline but even humors you with small talk, is taking cyberspace by storm. Operating like an automated secretary, “cyber robot” draws on the user’s personal information to create automatic responses to incoming messages when the user is not online. The program can be used on mini homepages and online messenger services, and has recently been extended to wireless communication equipment such as mobile phones. Daum Communications, an online portal, says that more than 400,000 people have signed up for the service since it started in April. “I use the program to leave messages for friends who are not logged on to messenger,” said Lim Sun-young, who uses Daum’s cyber robot service. “They can get back to me as soon as they log on.” Kim Yeon-kyun, who uses the cyber robot of Cyworld, one of Korea’s most popular Web sites, says he runs the program when he is out of town. “When I can’t log on to my Web site at Cyworld, the cyber robot automatically responds to messages left by visitors,” said Mr. Kim. “It feels like having a really reliable secretary.” SK Telecom, which started its mobile phone cyber robot service in May, said it already has 100,000 subscribers. Its program not only makes conversation with users but also selects information on topics like the weather and fashion that it thinks would be of interest to them. “The cyber robot service is at a very early stage,” said Woo In-shik at KT. “But in the future, it will evolve into an artificial intelligence that can control all electric home appliances in place of the owner.” by Chang Chung-hoon