Microsoft’s demented Murhpy bot shatters heroes by fusing faces

The tech giant Microsoft has been experimenting a lot lately, and the test results aren’t always suitable to be unleashed out in the wild (or world). Earlier this year, its artificial intelligence (AI) Twitter bot Tay went utterly insane when it learnt racism and abuse from the Twitterati.

The trigger behind both these bots was HowOldRobot, which was released last year, and guessed users’ age based on their photographs.

Fresh from the deepest pits of hell is Murphy, a bot you can interact with via Skype, Facebook’s Messenger, and various other apps to create mashed-up images in response to typed-in questions starting with “What if…?” And predictably enough, the syntheses aren’t eye candy.

I asked: "What if Hulk had tenticles?"

Murphy uses Azure, and according to the website is “powered by the intelligence of Microsoft Cognitive Services, including the knowledge of Bing.” Pop culture icons are obviously its main source of appetite as people flood it with questions of how a celebrity would look like if merged with another.

What if Oprah was bald? What if Obama was Michael Jackson?

The bot is probably a teenager by now, in terms of AI and cognitive devices’ ages. Sometimes, it gives a completely useless response, while at other times, it responds with a non-committal three dots (…). However, it asked me for more time when unable to answer my query, as it is still in the learning phase.

What if Shah Rukh Khan was a girl? What if Kanye West was Eminem?

Since crossovers and “shipping” are one of most-talked-about subjects in numerous fandoms, it is now quite convenient for fans to visualize their theories. The bot’s acceptable range of topics includes movies, TV shows, books, fantasy worlds, real celebrities, politicians, etc.

I asked: "What if Alexander Skarsgård was ugly?

Interestingly, Murphy would let you see how people would look if they were thinner or fatter. It even lets you view yourself as someone else.

I asked: "What if I was a wizard?"

Regardless, it won’t be long till Godwin’s Law comes into effect.

Here is the link to the underworld portal for those daring people who want to give it a shot.