On This Day, around February 12, 1966, ELIZA, the first chatbot and a significant milestone in AI history, was developed. Although the exact creation date is debated, ELIZA’s development marked the early stages of exploring computer programs’ ability to mimic human conversation. Created by Joseph Weizenbaum at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), ELIZA was initially designed to simulate a psychotherapist, using a pattern matching and substitution methodology to give users an illusion of understanding, though it could not truly understand conversation.
ELIZA’s most famous script, DOCTOR, mimicked a Rogerian psychotherapist, engaging users in a conversation that could appear surprisingly human-like. This breakthrough demonstrated the potential for computers to process natural language, albeit in a rudimentary form, and laid foundational concepts for the development of more sophisticated AI systems capable of natural language processing.
The development of ELIZA opened up new avenues in the study of human-computer interaction and the feasibility of creating machines that could engage in meaningful dialogues with humans. ELIZA’s legacy lives on, influencing the development of modern chatbots and virtual assistants that have become integral to our digital lives.
