Eliza Chatbot

Description

Demo

Try it out: Chat with ELIZA

Honoring Joseph Weizenbaum

This application aims to honor the work of Joseph Weizenbaum, who created the first chatbot, ELIZA, in the 1960s at MIT, and significantly contributed to the discipline of Artificial Intelligence.

Introduction to ELIZA

ELIZA was designed to mimic a Rogerian psychotherapist, and although it is based on a fairly short and simple script, it performed remarkably well and provided valuable insights into the nature of human-computer conversational interfaces. To recognize Weizenbaum’s work, I thought that ELIZA deserves a place here, alongside other plugins.

Technical Details

This plugin functions offline and maintains user privacy by not collecting any data. It’s based on the original ‘ELIZA’ script, as published in Weizenbaum’s 1966 paper “ELIZA – A Computer Program For the Study of Natural Language Communication Between Man and Machine”.

Personal Motivation

I also have a personal motivation for building this app. The German version of ELIZA was the first chatbot I’ve encountered in the ’90s. The limitations of ELIZA inspired me to develop a program that truly understands the user, rather than merely simulating understanding. This experience laid the foundation for my own project, which I started in 1996, and it has shaped my R&D career in AI.

AI for Personal Development

In 2023, I discovered a new avenue that allows me to combine my desire to help people grow with my interest in developing conversational AI as an experimental means to study the human mind and psychology. Visit my website to read more about my work within AI R&D and how I attempt to integrate it with helping people grow: www.szymonjessa.com

References

Weizenbaum, J. (1966). “ELIZA – A Computer Program For the Study of Natural Language Communication Between Man and Machine.” DOI: 10.1145/365153.365168 full text

See Also

ELIZA in Microsoft Store: ELIZA 1966 – The First Chatbot

Support

szymonjessagmailcom

Screenshots

Blocks

This plugin provides 1 block.

• Eliza Chatbot ELIZA – A retro chatbot that simulates a psychotherapist, based on the original 'ELIZA' script created by Joseph Weizenbaum in 1966.

Installation

1. Upload the plugin files to the /wp-content/plugins/eliza-chatbot directory, or install the plugin through the WordPress plugins screen directly.
2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ screen in WordPress

FAQ

Why?

Since 1966, ELIZA not only tells a story about computers or AI, but even more — it shows us, humans, in a new kind of interactive mirror and has been a source of self-reflection on our beliefs, emotions, and what constitutes a human and what does not. It also showcases the genius of its authors in the ratio of how much can be achieved by so little code. Reflecting on that small program and its impact, how does the comparison with modern data and compute giant “chatbots” look like? That’s how ELIZA remains a great source of reflection on the progress we experience.

Beyond these ephemeral reasons, it is used for teaching Python and basic Natural Language Processing concepts at a University.

Reviews

Contributors & Developers

Changelog

0.1.1

• Improved description

0.1.0

• Initial release