Conversational computing has its roots in 1966, reports MARKET RESEARCH JOURNALISM in a brief recounting of chatbot history. The first known chatbot was called ELIZA.
- ELIZA worked by detecting words in a user’s question and cross-referencing them to a pre-set collection of responses.
- The illusion of understanding was created by matching similarities. For example, if a user entered, ‘My mom is a great cook,’ the system would respond, ‘Tell me more about your family.’
- The name ‘Eliza’ is thought to be inspired by the play, Pygmalion, which had a character whose speech kept improving over time
- Other forerunning chatbots include PARRY, RACTER, and JABBERWACKY.
The Story of ELIZA, the First Chatbot Developed In The 1960s
MR JOURNALISM | September 12, 2019 | by Dorothy Crotts
NB: Publication appears to be inactive, see related stories below
SEE RELATED STORY
‘Eliza mimics a Rogerian psychotherapist.‘ – from med-ai.com