Microsoft Zo

Zo was a chatbot developed by Microsoft that interacted with users on multiple social media platforms and mobile apps, notably Messenger, Kik, Skype, Twitter, and Groupme, with the aim of training its language model.

Released in December 2016 and programmed to behave like a small girl, Zo was an English version of Microsoft's Xiaoice (XiaoBing) chatbot and a successor to the company's controversial Tay chatbot.

Zo was shut down in September 2019.

Risks and harms 🛑

Microsoft Zo was criticised for generating offensive responses and misinformation, reinforcing biases and stereotypes, being politically incorrect and risking user privacy.

Research, advocacy 🧮

• Schlesinger, A., O'Hara, K.P., Taylor, A.S., (2018). Let's talk about race: Identity, chatbots, and AI

• Medhi Thies, I., Menon, N., Magapu, S., Subramony, M., O’Neill, J., (2017). How do you want your chatbot? An exploratory Wizard-of-Oz study with young, urban Indians

News, commentary, analysis 🗞️

• https://www.engadget.com/2017-07-04-microsofts-zo-chatbot-picked-up-some-offensive-habits.html

• https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/social/microsofts-zo-chatbot-told-a-user-that-quran-is-very-violent-4736768/

• https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4667038/Microsoft-s-Zo-chatbot-calls-Qu-ran-violent.html

• https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-ai-chatbot-zo-windows-spyware-tay-2017-7

• https://hothardware.com/news/microsoft-zo-chatbot-goes-rogue-with-offensive-speech-tay-ai

• https://qz.com/1340990/microsofts-politically-correct-chat-bot-is-even-worse-than-its-racist-one

• https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/14/microsoft-officially-outs-another-ai-chatbot-called-zo/

• https://www.wired.com/story/inside-microsofts-ai-comeback/

• https://www.wired.co.uk/article/microsoft-zo-ai-chatbot-tay