Tucker Bryant has created ChatTJB, a deliberately fake chatbot that appears to answer users’ questions but is actually operated manually by Bryant himself. The project is presented as an extended comic commitment rather than an artificial-intelligence system, highlighting the appeal of human intervention behind automated-looking online services.

Bryant describes himself as someone who tends to “overcommit to bits”, suggesting the chatbot is part performance and part experiment. The article focuses on the contrast between the chatbot’s AI-style presentation and the fact that its replies come directly from one person.