(From "robot") Any type of autonomous software that operates as an agent for a user or a program or simulates a human activity. On the Internet, the most popular bots are programs (called spiders or crawlers) used for searching. They access {web sites}, retrieve documents and follow all the {hyperlinks} in them then they generate catalogs that are accessed by {search engines}. A chatbot converses with humans (or other bots). A shopbot searches the Web to find the best price for a product. Other bots (such as OpenSesame) observe a user' s patterns in navigating a website and customises the site for that user. Knowbots collect specific information from websites. (1999-05-20)
