from
Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)
bot
n
[common on IRC, MUD and among gamers; from "robot"]
1. An {IRC} or {MUD} user who is actually a program. On IRC, typically
the robot provides some useful service. Examples are NickServ, which
tries to prevent random users from adopting {nick}s already claimed by
others, and MsgServ, which allows one to send asynchronous messages to
be delivered when the recipient signs on. Also common are `annoybots',
such as KissServ, which perform no useful function except to send cute
messages to other people. Service bots are less common on MUDs; but
some others, such as the `Julia' bot active in 1990--91, have been
remarkably impressive Turing-test experiments, able to pass as human
for as long as ten or fifteen minutes of conversation.
2. An AI-controlled player in a computer game (especially a
first-person shooter such as Quake) which, unlike ordinary monsters,
operates like a human-controlled player, with access to a player's
weapons and abilities. An example can be found at
http://www.telefragged.com/thefatal/.
3. Term used, though less commonly, for a web {spider}. The file for
controlling spider behavior on your site is officially the "Robots
Exclusion File" and its URL is "http://<somehost>/robots.txt")
Note that bots in all senses were `robots' when the terms first
appeared in the early 1990s, but the shortened form is now habitual.