T. Rex Chatbot Answers All of Your Pressing Dino Questions

If there's something you want to know about dinosaurs, now's your chance to ask one directly. According to FastCo Design, National Geographic Kids and +rehabstudio recently partnered to created Tina, a Tyrannosaurus Rex chatbot who uses artificial intelligence to answer questions about herself through Facebook's messaging interface.

When the chat window is activated on the official Nat Geo Kids UK profile, Tina introduces herself and suggests that users ask a question about her appearance. A few sample lines: "I was longer than a bus and taller than a giraffe and I weighed between 5 - 9 tons" and "That’s about as heavy as an African elephant. So I was really HUGE!"

And Tina is into more than just looks. When asked what her favorite food is, the chatbot answers with "meat," but also explains what the word carnivore means, lists specific dinosaurs that she would have eaten, and ends with "You could be pretty tasty too."

Still, that doesn't mean she's a know-it-all. When Tina is asked a question that she does not understand or can not answer, she tries to get the user to ask something else, FastCo Design reports.

"I've been extinct for 66 million years, so there are a lot of things I don't know about, and that's one of them," she responds. "But keep asking me questions and you can help me learn. Why not ask me how many bones I had."

The bot was programmed with children in mind as a way to "make learning an engaging and interactive experience," but as we learned by testing it out, it is fun for dinosaur fans of all ages.

[h/t FastCo Design]

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