ELIZA
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1052 ▶ |
| Object type | Discipline oriented, Epistemology, ontology or semantics |
A computer program for the study of natural language communication between man and machine.
This program was created in 1966 by J. WEIZENBAUM (1976). It is able: “… to mimic a non-directive psychotherapist interacting with a ”patient“.
The following comment by M. RINGLE puts “ELIZA” in perspective (in accordance, it should be observed with WEIZENBAUM's own ironic viewpoint): “A.I. workers have often sought to build computer simulations which operate on superficial behavioral similarities to natural intelligence, rather than on the underlying cognitive structures. A good example of this is WEIZENBAUM's ”ELIZA“. ELIZA will, at least for a short time, give the impression of a sophisticated semantic analyzer-and-synthetizer. After a while, however, the impression will diminish as ELIZA repeats stock phrases in order to acquire more syntactic informations. In fact, ELIZA is simply a clever syntactic device, a ”conversation-continuer“ which lacks a semantic interpreter altogether” (1976, p.9).
In this case programed “parrot speak” has been made clearly different from artificial intelligence, at least if one admits that artificial intelligence could be not purely algorithmic.