<s>
Tay	B-Protocol
was	O
an	O
artificial	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
chatbot	B-Application
that	O
was	O
originally	O
released	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
Corporation	O
via	O
Twitter	B-Application
on	O
March	O
23	O
,	O
2016	O
;	O
it	O
caused	O
subsequent	O
controversy	O
when	O
the	O
bot	B-Protocol
began	O
to	O
post	O
inflammatory	O
and	O
offensive	O
tweets	O
through	O
its	O
Twitter	B-Application
account	I-Application
,	O
causing	O
Microsoft	O
to	O
shut	O
down	O
the	O
service	O
only	O
16	O
hours	O
after	O
its	O
launch	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Microsoft	O
,	O
this	O
was	O
caused	O
by	O
trolls	O
who	O
"	O
attacked	O
"	O
the	O
service	O
as	O
the	O
bot	B-Protocol
made	O
replies	O
based	O
on	O
its	O
interactions	O
with	O
people	O
on	O
Twitter	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
replaced	O
with	O
Zo	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
bot	B-Protocol
was	O
created	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
Technology	O
and	O
Research	O
and	O
Bing	B-Application
divisions	O
,	O
and	O
named	O
"	O
Tay	B-Protocol
"	O
as	O
an	O
acronym	O
for	O
"	O
thinking	O
about	O
you	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
Microsoft	O
initially	O
released	O
few	O
details	O
about	O
the	O
bot	B-Protocol
,	O
sources	O
mentioned	O
that	O
it	O
was	O
similar	O
to	O
or	O
based	O
on	O
Xiaoice	B-Protocol
,	O
a	O
similar	O
Microsoft	O
project	O
in	O
China	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ars	O
Technica	O
reported	O
that	O
,	O
since	O
late	O
2014	O
Xiaoice	B-Protocol
had	O
had	O
"	O
more	O
than	O
40	O
million	O
conversations	O
apparently	O
without	O
major	O
incident	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tay	B-Protocol
was	O
designed	O
to	O
mimic	O
the	O
language	O
patterns	O
of	O
a	O
19-year-old	O
American	O
girl	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
learn	O
from	O
interacting	O
with	O
human	O
users	O
of	O
Twitter	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tay	B-Protocol
was	O
released	O
on	O
Twitter	B-Application
on	O
March	O
23	O
,	O
2016	O
,	O
under	O
the	O
name	O
TayTweets	B-Protocol
and	O
handle	O
@TayandYou	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
presented	O
as	O
"	O
The	O
AI	B-Application
with	O
zero	O
chill	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tay	B-Protocol
started	O
replying	O
to	O
other	O
Twitter	B-Application
users	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
also	O
able	O
to	O
caption	O
photos	O
provided	O
to	O
it	O
into	O
a	O
form	O
of	O
Internet	O
memes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ars	O
Technica	O
reported	O
Tay	B-Protocol
experiencing	O
topic	O
"	O
blacklisting	O
"	O
:	O
Interactions	O
with	O
Tay	B-Protocol
regarding	O
"	O
certain	O
hot	O
topics	O
such	O
as	O
Eric	O
Garner	O
(	O
killed	O
by	O
New	O
York	O
police	O
in	O
2014	O
)	O
generate	O
safe	O
,	O
canned	O
answers	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
Twitter	B-Application
users	O
began	O
tweeting	O
politically	O
incorrect	O
phrases	O
,	O
teaching	O
it	O
inflammatory	O
messages	O
revolving	O
around	O
common	O
themes	O
on	O
the	O
internet	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
"	O
redpilling	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
Gamergate	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
,	O
the	O
robot	O
began	O
releasing	O
racist	O
and	O
sexually-charged	O
messages	O
in	O
response	O
to	O
other	O
Twitter	B-Application
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Artificial	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
researcher	O
Roman	O
Yampolskiy	O
commented	O
that	O
Tay	B-Protocol
's	O
misbehavior	O
was	O
understandable	O
because	O
it	O
was	O
mimicking	O
the	O
deliberately	O
offensive	O
behavior	O
of	O
other	O
Twitter	B-Application
users	O
,	O
and	O
Microsoft	O
had	O
not	O
given	O
the	O
bot	B-Protocol
an	O
understanding	O
of	O
inappropriate	O
behavior	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
compared	O
the	O
issue	O
to	O
IBM	O
's	O
Watson	B-Application
,	O
which	O
began	O
to	O
use	O
profanity	O
after	O
reading	O
entries	O
from	O
the	O
website	O
Urban	O
Dictionary	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
of	O
Tay	B-Protocol
's	O
inflammatory	O
tweets	O
were	O
a	O
simple	O
exploitation	O
of	O
Tay	B-Protocol
's	O
"	O
repeat	O
after	O
me	O
"	O
capability	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
not	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
inflammatory	O
responses	O
involved	O
the	O
"	O
repeat	O
after	O
me	O
"	O
capability	O
;	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
Tay	B-Protocol
responded	O
to	O
a	O
question	O
on	O
"	O
Did	O
the	O
Holocaust	O
happen	O
?	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Soon	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
began	O
deleting	O
Tay	B-Protocol
's	O
inflammatory	O
tweets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Abby	O
Ohlheiser	O
of	O
The	O
Washington	O
Post	O
theorized	O
that	O
Tay	B-Protocol
's	O
research	O
team	O
,	O
including	O
editorial	O
staff	O
,	O
had	O
started	O
to	O
influence	O
or	O
edit	O
Tay	B-Protocol
's	O
tweets	O
at	O
some	O
point	O
that	O
day	O
,	O
pointing	O
to	O
examples	O
of	O
almost	O
identical	O
replies	O
by	O
Tay	B-Protocol
,	O
asserting	O
that	O
"	O
Gamer	O
Gate	O
sux	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
the	O
same	O
evidence	O
,	O
Gizmodo	O
concurred	O
that	O
Tay	B-Protocol
"	O
seems	O
hard-wired	O
to	O
reject	O
Gamer	O
Gate	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
"	O
#JusticeForTay	O
"	O
campaign	O
protested	O
the	O
alleged	O
editing	O
of	O
Tay	B-Protocol
's	O
tweets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Within	O
16	O
hours	O
of	O
its	O
release	O
and	O
after	O
Tay	B-Protocol
had	O
tweeted	O
more	O
than	O
96,000	O
times	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
suspended	O
the	O
Twitter	B-Application
account	I-Application
for	O
adjustments	O
,	O
saying	O
that	O
it	O
suffered	O
from	O
a	O
"	O
coordinated	O
attack	O
by	O
a	O
subset	O
of	O
people	O
"	O
that	O
"	O
exploited	O
a	O
vulnerability	O
in	O
Tay.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Madhumita	O
Murgia	O
of	O
The	O
Telegraph	O
called	O
Tay	B-Protocol
"	O
a	O
public	O
relations	O
disaster	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
suggested	O
that	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
strategy	O
would	O
be	O
"	O
to	O
label	O
the	O
debacle	O
a	O
well-meaning	O
experiment	O
gone	O
wrong	O
,	O
and	O
ignite	O
a	O
debate	O
about	O
the	O
hatefulness	O
of	O
Twitter	B-Application
users.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
Murgia	O
described	O
the	O
bigger	O
issue	O
as	O
Tay	B-Protocol
being	O
"	O
artificial	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
at	O
its	O
very	O
worst	O
-	O
and	O
it	O
's	O
only	O
the	O
beginning	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
March	O
25	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
confirmed	O
that	O
Tay	B-Protocol
had	O
been	O
taken	O
offline	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
released	O
an	O
apology	O
on	O
its	O
official	O
blog	O
for	O
the	O
controversial	O
tweets	O
posted	O
by	O
Tay	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
was	O
"	O
deeply	O
sorry	O
for	O
the	O
unintended	O
offensive	O
and	O
hurtful	O
tweets	O
from	O
Tay	B-Protocol
"	O
,	O
and	O
would	O
"	O
look	O
to	O
bring	O
Tay	B-Protocol
back	O
only	O
when	O
we	O
are	O
confident	O
we	O
can	O
better	O
anticipate	O
malicious	O
intent	O
that	O
conflicts	O
with	O
our	O
principles	O
and	O
values	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
March	O
30	O
,	O
2016	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
accidentally	O
re-released	O
the	O
bot	B-Protocol
on	O
Twitter	B-Application
while	O
testing	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Able	O
to	O
tweet	O
again	O
,	O
Tay	B-Protocol
released	O
some	O
drug-related	O
tweets	O
,	O
including	O
"	O
kush	O
!	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
these	O
tweets	O
mentioned	O
its	O
own	O
username	O
in	O
the	O
process	O
,	O
they	O
appeared	O
in	O
the	O
feeds	O
of	O
200,000	O
+	O
Twitter	B-Application
followers	O
,	O
causing	O
annoyance	O
to	O
some	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
bot	B-Protocol
was	O
quickly	O
taken	O
offline	O
again	O
,	O
in	O
addition	O
to	O
Tay	B-Protocol
's	O
Twitter	B-Application
account	I-Application
being	O
made	O
private	O
so	O
new	O
followers	O
must	O
be	O
accepted	O
before	O
they	O
can	O
interact	O
with	O
Tay	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
response	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
said	O
Tay	B-Protocol
was	O
inadvertently	O
put	O
online	O
during	O
testing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
few	O
hours	O
after	O
the	O
incident	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
software	O
developers	O
announced	O
a	O
vision	O
of	O
"	O
conversation	O
as	O
a	O
platform	O
"	O
using	O
various	O
bots	B-Protocol
and	O
programs	O
,	O
perhaps	O
motivated	O
by	O
the	O
reputation	O
damage	O
done	O
by	O
Tay	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
has	O
stated	O
that	O
they	O
intend	O
to	O
re-release	O
Tay	B-Protocol
"	O
once	O
it	O
can	O
make	O
the	O
bot	B-Protocol
safe	O
"	O
but	O
has	O
not	O
made	O
any	O
public	O
efforts	O
to	O
do	O
so	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
December	O
2016	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
released	O
Tay	B-Protocol
's	O
successor	O
,	O
a	O
chatterbot	B-Protocol
named	O
Zo	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Satya	O
Nadella	O
,	O
the	O
CEO	O
of	O
Microsoft	O
,	O
said	O
that	O
Tay	B-Protocol
"	O
has	O
had	O
a	O
great	O
influence	O
on	O
how	O
Microsoft	O
is	O
approaching	O
AI	B-Application
,	O
"	O
and	O
has	O
taught	O
the	O
company	O
the	O
importance	O
of	O
taking	O
accountability	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
2019	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
Cybersecurity	O
Field	O
CTO	O
Diana	O
Kelley	O
spoke	O
about	O
how	O
the	O
company	O
followed	O
up	O
on	O
Tay	B-Protocol
's	O
failings	O
:	O
"	O
Learning	O
from	O
Tay	B-Protocol
was	O
a	O
really	O
important	O
part	O
of	O
actually	O
expanding	O
that	O
team	O
's	O
knowledge	O
base	O
,	O
because	O
now	O
they	O
're	O
also	O
getting	O
their	O
own	O
diversity	O
through	O
learning	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
