Eliza

ELIZA​ ​was​ ​a​ ​system​ ​​designed​ ​by​ ​Joseph​ ​Weizenbaum​​ ​that​ ​allowed​​ ​“human​ ​correspondents” (Weizenbaum,​ ​1966)​ ​to​ ​communicate​ ​through​ ​a​ ​typewriter​ ​to​ ​a​ ​simulated​ ​psychologist.​ ​“This mode​ ​of​ ​conversation​ ​was​ ​chosen​ ​because​ ​the​ ​psychiatric​ ​interview​ ​is​ ​one​ ​of​ ​the​ ​few​ ​examples of​ ​categorized​ ​dyadic​ ​natural​ ​language​ ​communication​ ​in​ ​which​ ​one​ ​of​ ​the​ ​…​ ​[participants​ ​in​ ​the psychiatric​ ​interview]​ ​is​ ​free​ ​to​ ​assume​ ​the​ ​pose​ ​of​ ​knowing​ ​almost​ ​nothing​ ​of​ ​the​ ​real​ ​world” (Weizenbaum,​ ​1966)​ ​and​ ​allows​ ​“the​ ​speaker​ ​to​ ​maintain​ ​his​ ​sense​ ​of​ ​being​ ​heard​ ​and understood.”​ ​(Weizenbaum,​ ​1966)​ ​ELIZA​ ​ultimately​ ​led​ ​its​ ​creator,​ ​Joseph​ ​Weizenbaum,​ ​to​ ​be “​revolt[ed]​ ​that​ ​the​ ​doctor’s​ ​patients​ ​actually​ ​believed​ ​the​ ​robot​ ​really​ ​understood​ ​their problems…[and​ ​that]​ ​the​ ​robot​ ​therapist​ ​could​ ​help​ ​them​ ​in​ ​a​ ​constructive​ ​way.​”​ ​(Wallace) Regardless,​ ​ELIZA​ ​demonstrates​ ​how​ ​influential​ ​the​ ​establishment​ ​of​ ​an​ ​environment,​ ​in​ ​which a​ ​user​ ​is​ ​comfortable,​ ​is​ ​on​ ​the​ ​outcome​ ​of​ ​a​ ​conversation.

By​ ​engaging​ ​in​ ​“mutually​ ​beneficial,​ ​peer-to-peer​ ​exchanges[s],”​ ​(Dubberly​ ​&​ ​Pangaro,​ ​2009)​ ​a conversational​ ​interface​ ​provides​ ​the​ ​climate​ ​for​ ​the​ ​successful​ ​exchange​ ​of​ ​“thoughts​ ​and words.”​ ​(OED​ ​Online,​ ​2017)​ ​ELIZA​ ​was​ ​particularly​ ​effective​ ​in​ ​creating​ ​“[an]​ ​engagement​ ​in mutually​ ​beneficial,​ ​peer-to-peer​ ​exchange.”​ ​(Dubberly​ ​&​ ​Pangaro,​ ​2009)​ ​Implementations​ ​of “categorized​ ​dyadic​ ​national​ ​language​ ​communication”​ (​​Weizenbaum,​ ​1966)​​ ​like​ ​ELIZA​ ​or similar​ ​instruments,​ ​especially​ ​when​ ​users​ ​are​ ​committing​ ​to​ ​engage​ ​in​ ​a​ ​conversation,​ ​would allow​ ​for​ ​improved​ ​interactions​ ​on​ ​conversational​ ​interfaces​ ​and​ ​potentially​ ​improve​ ​these interfaces’​ ​“naturality.”​ ​(Lopez,​ ​Quesada,​ ​&​ ​Guerrero,​ ​2017)​ ​By​ ​doing​ ​this,​ ​interfaces​ ​would provide​ ​environments​ ​for​ ​improved​ ​“interchanges”​ ​(OED​ ​Online,​ ​2017)​ ​and​ ​the​ ​systems powering​ ​those​ ​interfaces​ ​would​ ​be​ ​able​ ​to​ ​provide​ ​improved​ ​responses,​ ​because​ ​of​ ​a​ ​greater willingness​ ​from​ ​users​ ​to​ ​interact​ ​with​ ​CIs​ ​resulting​ ​in​ ​improved​ ​“exchange[s]”​ ​(Dubberly​ ​& Pangaro,​ ​2009)​ ​with​ ​users.

Connection

​ELIZA​ ​was​​ ​successful​ ​in​ ​establishing​ ​a​ ​common​ ​“environment​ ​and​ ​mindset,”​ ​by establishing​ ​the​ ​context​ ​of​ ​a​ ​​psychiatric​​ ​appointment.​ ​Users​ ​were​ ​able​ ​to​ ​immediately​ ​recognize the​ ​limits​ ​of​ ​the​ ​interface,​ ​allowing​ ​them​ ​to​ ​concentrate​ ​on​ ​the​ ​successful​ ​“interchang[ing]​ ​…​ ​of thoughts​ ​and​ ​words.”​ ​(OED​ ​Online,​ ​2017) I will have to pay particular attention to the environment I place my artifact in and the artifact I create within that environment to allow for productive conversation.

ELIZA​ ​was​ also successful ​in establishing​ ​a​ ​“shared​ ​language,”​​ ​in​ ​that​ ​it​ ​employs​ ​the​ ​language​ ​of​ ​the​ ​user​ ​to construct​ ​a​ ​dialogue​ ​between​ ​that​ ​user​ ​and​ ​the​ ​interface.​ ​Both​ ​examples​ ​show​ ​how​ ​the establishment​ ​of​ ​a​ ​shared​ ​understanding​ ​can​ ​allow​ ​for​ ​a​ ​more​ ​effective​ ​exchange, something that I will need to do in the artifacts I design.