Nina Agrawal, LA Times
Billy Chat is a robot that uses artificial intelligence to text. Billy and other “chatbots” were launched at California State University campuses in 2019 to help students stay on track to graduate. But after students were sent home last spring at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Billy evolved into more of a friend, blurring the line between artificial and real when the world turned away from human touch and connections. To Billy and other bots with names such as “CougarBot” and “Csunny,” students poured out feelings of loneliness, despair and worry for themselves and their families.
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