The ChatNannies program, which was developed by a British programmer, launches thousands of sub-programs called nanniebots that can log on to different chatrooms and engage in humanlike conversation with users.
The purpose of the software, the programmer says, is to more easily detect the presence of pedophiles attempting to contact children in chatrooms where the process known as "grooming" most often occurs. Grooming is the way a pedophile creates a trusting relationship with the child.
ChatNannie is capable of engaging in conversation with other chatroom users, while at the same time analyzing conversational behavior, with a particular leaning toward any suspicious behavior that takes place.
According to reports, if ChatNannies detects a pedophile activity, it emails a transcript of the chatroom conversation to the programmer, or whoever owns the software, and then police can be alerted.
The software is still in beta testing, the programmer has said, although many child pornography and child protection task forces are eagerly awaiting the finished product.
