Expert: Chuck Cosby - 4/1/2009

Question
I am currently trying to design a simple Ai that communicates based on how the user feels. (this is entered as a string). How should I go about making the program recognize synonyms for certain words (ex: sad and melancholy)? Also, There is a joke in which the computer prompts the user for an answer, but there are many ways to say the right answer. How do I make it recognize them? (I currently have an array containing the answer possibilities, and compare them to the entry, but I was wondering if there was a more efficient way)

Answer
You should look into the 'Princton Word Net' - from Princton Collage.  a simple way to handle your other question is to program a list of all possible words in the answer.  then put a weighted value on each word (say 1-10) regarding its importance in the answer.  Then maybe even put some weights on it's position in the answer.  then each time the user provides an anwswer - process it against those weights and have a threshold above which the answer is consirdered 'right'.