ELIZA: The First Foundations of Artificial Intelligence
The first steps taken in the field of artificial intelligence have brought many innovations throughout history. One of the first examples of these innovations was developed by Joseph Weizenbaum from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the 1960s. ELIZA program. ELIZA was a very advanced chatbot for the technological level of that time and could interact with users in a limited way. Today's Chat GPT Compared to advanced language models such as , ELIZA had limited possibilities. However, this program is considered one of the milestones in the history of artificial intelligence.
History and Development of ELIZA
ELIZA takes its name from George Bernard Shaw's famous play PygmalionThe program was named after the character Eliza Doolittle from . The program analyzed the user's expressions and provided feedback based on certain scenarios. For example, when a user expressed that they were feeling down, ELIZA would ask questions such as "Can you tell me what's troubling you?" to elaborate on the situation. In this way, the user had the opportunity to delve deeper into their own problems.
Technical Infrastructure and Programming Language
Weizenbaum developed ELIZA in a programming language that is no longer used. However, the code for this program was quickly copied to another language, making the original version obsolete. ELIZA's first code was thought to be lost for many years, but its discovery in 2021 by Stanford University's Jeff Shrager and MIT archivist Myles Crowley among Weizenbaum's papers made an important contribution to the history of artificial intelligence.
Reinventing ELIZA
Jeff Shrager and his team have been able to revive ELIZA by cleaning up and completing the original code. Shrager emphasized the importance of this project by saying, “I have a special interest in the thinking of the early AI pioneers.” ELIZA is an important part of the history of AI and is of great value in understanding the roots of today’s AI applications.
User Experience and Limitations of ELIZA
The recreated ELIZA gives almost the same answers as the original version, but it has some technical limitations. In particular, there is a problem where the program crashes when users type in numbers. The team decided not to fix this problem because they felt that doing so would be equivalent to altering a historical artifact in order to leave the original version unchanged. "It would be like trying to correct a wrong brush stroke in the original Mona Lisa," Shrager said.
ELIZA's Communication Methods
Although ELIZA was designed to investigate human-computer interaction, it has been observed that its chatbot feature overshadows this purpose. David Berry, one of the authors of the article, states that ELIZA was quite advanced compared to the technology of the time. ELIZA had the capacity to continue a conversation for a while and is notable for this aspect. Shrager emphasizes ELIZA’s “listening” ability, which is different from today’s AI bots. This feature makes it more resistant to problems such as providing false information and biased behavior, which are common problems encountered by today’s bots.
ELIZA'S Place and Importance Today
ELIZA, which laid the foundation for developments in the field of artificial intelligence, has played an important role in the evolution of today's chatbots and artificial intelligence applications. The simple yet effective communication format offered by ELIZA has helped users express their own problems and think deeply. This feature has made ELIZA not just a software, but also a tool that allows users to discover themselves.
As a result
ELIZA is one of the most important first steps in the history of artificial intelligence. This program, developed by Joseph Weizenbaum, revolutionized human-computer interaction and inspired subsequent generations of artificial intelligence applications. ELIZA's listening ability sets a benchmark for today's AI bots. Therefore, understanding ELIZA and evaluating its possibilities is critical for anyone who wants to advance in the field of artificial intelligence.