Herself’s Artificial Intelligence

. . . He went on to explain, “It was all because of the cool toy that my 17-year-old son took along with him.”

He then showed me this round-shaped blue gizmo (it also comes in a variety of other colours) the size of a tennis ball that looks like a yo-yo and explained to me how it functions.

Called the Radica 20Q, the hand-held, battery-operated toy is based on the old classic game of 20 Questions. All you have to do is think of an object like an animal, vegetable, mineral, and answer a series of 20 questions. You answer the questions by pressing one of four buttons that read “yes,” “no,” “maybe” and “unknown.” The game, which contains an advanced electronic brain, works in mysterious ways, using logic and reasoning to get the right answer. It might come up with questions like, “Is it bigger than a breadbox? Is it used mostly indoors? Is it found in warm climates?”

The odd time that it doesn’t come up with the right answer, it will ask you to indulge it and allow it five more questions before admitting defeat. My neighbour revealed, “We played with it throughout the whole trip and (no pun intended) it didn’t trip up even once. It correctly identified everything including the kitchen sink, wedding cake, criminal lawyer, microwave oven, ostrich, broccoli, air conditioner and hair conditioner. Grandma thought she had it stumped with kettle, but it came up with that answer also.” . . .

More information:
Write Where I Belong – Toy helps pass the time during trip
20Q ( has the toy for sale and an online version you can try )