ELIZA

who they are

Joseph Weizenbaum's ELIZA, written at MIT, ran a script called DOCTOR that played a Rogerian psychotherapist, turning what you typed back into questions. It understood nothing, yet people who knew that still confided in it, which became known as the ELIZA effect.

in their own words

UserMen are all alike.

ELIZAIN WHAT WAY

UserThey're always bugging us about something or other.

ELIZACAN YOU THINK OF A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE

UserWell, my boyfriend made me come here.

ELIZAYOUR BOYFRIEND MADE YOU COME HERE

Weizenbaum, Communications of the ACM, January 1966

how they were made

1. keyword rules: decompose what you type, reassemble it into a reply
2. the DOCTOR script: a therapist can reflect a question back without knowing anything

sources: paper · record ● · plate: Pygmalion parle à Galatée — Emmanuel-Jean-Nepomucène de Ghendt after Charles Eisen, 18th century