Plan 8: Confuse Him with Weird Questions¶

"Hee hee," hissed Wobble. "Kids don't talk the way computers expect. They mush their words. They forget the right name for stuff. They say 'thingy' and 'you know, the blue one with the hat.' Boop will get confused, give up, and ask them to try again. Over and over. They'll quit before they get a single answer."

Sam stopped. "...Wobble. That's a real one."

A regular computer would get stuck on a question like "can you find the picture I made of the thingy?" A regular computer wants the EXACT word for everything. And kids don't talk that way. People don't talk that way.

So Sam made Boop different.

Boop tries to figure out what you mean, even when you say it weird.

Tell him "the thingy with the hat" and Boop guesses you might mean a snowman, or a chef, or your grandpa. He'll show you the closest things he can find and let you pick. He'll meet you where you actually are.

🧦 Like your best friend. You can say "you know, the thingy" and your best friend goes "oh, you mean the sock?" Most computers can't do that. Boop can.

That's also why a kid who can't type yet can still talk to Boop with their voice — or a kid whose first language is Spanish or Bulgarian can ask in Spanish or Bulgarian. Boop doesn't need you to know the right word in the right language. He just needs you to try.

Wobble's eighth plan: foiled.