Digital Discourse Database

Number of Posts: 9
Posts 1 - 9

Qu'est-ce qu'un chatbot?

(What is a chatbot?)

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Newspaper | Le Figaro
Date | 8.6.2017
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | artificial intelligence, social media, texting
Summary | "Chatbot" comes from "chat" and "robot", and is a software that imitates human conversation and natural language. We can come across chatbots on certain companies' websites (e.g. SNCF, Orange, Fnac, Ikea). We can ask them questions online and they usually try to help us. Chatbots are particularly popular today, but the concept is now new; it started in 1960 a program called Eliza (from MIT). Today's softwares are more complex and powerful. They are increasingly used on social media and messaging apps.
Image Description | N/A

L'intelligence artificielle à l'assaut de nos logements

(Artificial intelligence launched an attack on our homes)

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Newspaper | Le Figaro
Date | 27.7.2017
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | artificial intelligence, texting
Summary | Artificial intelligence is getting closer to our homes. Many French companies want to make our lives at home easier, and artificial intelligence is the answer. For instance, HomeServe worked with natural language processing in order to create a virtual assistant that can solve breakdowns. Thanks to artificial intelligence, users can send a message to a chatbot (called Tom) and explain the problem/breakdown. Then, Tom identifies the breakdown and tries to find a way to solve it. This new assistant can also tell you how much the fixing will cost and schedule an appointment with a professional.
Image Description | N/A

Erik Orsenna: «N'oublions jamais qu'une langue est un cadeau!»

(Erik Orsenna: "Let's never forget that a language is a gift!")

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Newspaper | Le Monde
Date | 9.3.2017
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | language threat, spelling, texting, word/writing
Summary | Writer Erik Orsenna talks about language and why it shapes us. He talks about the new French spelling reforms, the French Academy, the relationship between language and people's identity, rap music, useless anglicisms, and texting.
Image Description | Photograph of interviewee Erik Orsenna
Image Tags | male(s)

Comment donner le goût de la lecture?

(How to instill the love of reading?)

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Newspaper | Le Figaro
Date | 20.3.2016
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | childhood, school, spelling, texting, threat, word/writing
Summary | Teenagers don't read a lot. This is not new, but nowadays texting and social networks are a priority among young people. They want immediacy, community, and noise, and reading equals silence, long time, and solitude. Young people read differently, which is why Bayard decided to focus on short stories instead of novels. Elementary schools are experimenting something new: the reading machine. Users can alternate on a tablet reading and listening phases.
Image Description | Photograph of an open book

Du SMS au smartphone, vingt ans à se réinventer

(From SMS to smartphone, twenty years to reinvent oneself)

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Newspaper | Les Echos
Date | 25.1.2017
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | smartphone, texting
Summary | The app Shazam was created in 1990, but at that time iTunes and iPhone did not exist. At first, people had to call a number and play the song to an answering machine and would receive the name of the song via text message.
Image Description | N/A

Le point à la fin du SMS: un mauvais signe

(A period at the end of a text: a bad sign)

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Newspaper | Le Monde
Date | 5.1.2016
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | abbreviations, misunderstanding, punctuation, spelling, texting, word/writing
Summary | Texting is becoming very popular among younger people who will soon be getting their smartphone transplanted on their hand. The language of texting is "cool", does not necessarily follow traditional rules, uses phonetics and abbreviations. Moreover, to replace the tone of voice and other nonverbal cues that are lacking in writing, people use emoticons. Now, it seems that adding a period at the end of a text can lead to misunderstandings.
Image Description | Photograph of a businessman walking and looking at his phone
Image Tags | male(s), smartphone

D'où vient l'acronyme Osef ?

(Where does the acronym Osef come from?)

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Newspaper | Le Figaro
Date | 15.12.2016
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | hashtags, texting, Twitter, word/writing, youth
Summary | The term "osef" seems to be very popular among teenagers nowadays. It means "on s'en fout" (we don't care). The expression was born on Twitter and was preceded by a hashtag or mot-dièse (the English term won).
Image Description | N/A

Pourquoi il ne faut surtout pas finir ses textos par un point

(Why we shouldn't end a text with a period)

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Newspaper | Le Figaro
Date | 10.12.2015
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | punctuation, research/study, texting
Summary | The University of Binghamton conducted a study and revealed that text messages that end with a period are considered less sincere and mean. The exclamation mark is seen as a more sincere option. The period has an expressive function.
Image Description | Photograph of a woman looking at her phone and looking perplexed.
Image Tags | female(s), smartphone

«Jpp», «wtf», «oklm»... maîtrisez-vous le parler jeune?

("Jpp", "wtf", "oklm"... do you master teenagers' language?)

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Newspaper | Le Figaro
Date | 25.8.2016
Language | French
Country | France
Topic Tags | abbreviations, language threat, texting, youth
Summary | Young people tend to use a lot of words and abbreviations that are unintelligible, according to many parents and professors. Their language is very creative and is influenced by our ancestors' language. Writer Stéphane Ribeiro claims that young people's language is a melting pot; it is a mix of American and historical expressions. Moreover, the language used by today's youth has been influenced by new technologies and the texting culture. It is not a threat to the French language; language is constantly changing and evolving
Image Description | Photograph of five young people looking happy, screenshots of two tweets depicting the use of abbreviations, and "Top Wesh" video.
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), text, Twitter

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