ELIZA: The Chatbot Who Revolutionised Human-Machine Interaction [An Introduction]
There are now over 300,000 chatbots (on Facebook). 55 years ago, there was only 1.
ELIZA: How do you do. Please tell me your problem.
YOU: I have trouble keeping my houseplants alive.
ELIZA: Your houseplants alive?
YOU: Yes, I forget to water them sometimes.
ELIZA: You are sure.
YOU: I am sure.
ELIZA: Do you know anyone else who is sure?
YOU: My plants are sure.
ELIZA: Why do you say your plants are sure?
YOU: Because they suffer the direct consequences of me not watering them.
ELIZA: Does that reason seem to explain anything else?
How do you do? Illustrated above is one example of a conversation I had with ELIZA. ELIZA is the first chatbot and early contender of the Turing Test*.
In this article, I’ll talk about why ELIZA is important, who ELIZA is, how ELIZA works, and answering one of the (in my opinion) most important questions about ELIZA.
Let’s get started.
