Need a buddy to binge-watch with? Meet Atticus, the new bot from AT&T

If you’re binge-watching television, you’re probably doing it all by your lonesome, right? Really, you can’t put on your stretchy pants and hunker down with a pint — fine, gallon — of ice cream in polite company. But even if you enjoy this solitude, there’s something to be said about having a companion with whom to share those jokes, or commiserate in the injustice of the latest plot twist. But that companion doesn’t have to human. Meet Atticus, a new chatbot from AT&T “built to talk entertainment.” Just think of him as the perfect boyfriend.

“If he had any more entertainment knowledge, he would have his own show,” AT&T said of its newest digital friend. “He’s here to test your knowledge and share fun facts about your favorite shows, from Scandal to Kingdom to The Big Bang Theory. Truthfully, it’s hard to believe he’s not real.” Isn’t it, though? Such perfection doesn’t exist in our species.

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In order to take Atticus for a test run, you’ll have to have Messenger installed (either on your desktop or your mobile device), but that’s about the only requirement. From there, you can chat with Atticus as you would with any of your Facebook friends — that is, if your Facebook friends are absolute cinephiles.

Atticus is most useful in his ability to ply you with fun facts about various TV shows, both current and past. Whether you’re interested in American Horror Story or The Office, Atticus has your back. And if nothing else, he makes for some pretty great entertainment in addition to your television entertainment when you just want to share a laugh or a spooky scene. It’s nice. A bot that keeps you company through a day of bingeing on Netflix alone is sort of great idea.

That said, if you do manage to stump Atticus, you’ll be sent on the rather unpleasant trip to AT&T’s customer support line, which seems like the last thing you’d want to do as a complement to your day in front of the television. But for all those times that you just want a buddy to watch Bloodline with, you may just be pleased by what you find in AT&T’s Atticus.

from Planet GS via John Jason Fallows on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2i8hFD2
Lulu Chang