Sunday, September 7, 2008

Eliza, Computer Therapist

Remember that post I made about The Guild? That post was actually a requirement for my Digital New Media class in NYU. I will be making more posts for that class on my blog and since my focus is on gaming (both in the class and for this blog), most of the posts relating to Digital New Media will at least touch upon gaming.

I just finished reading what I was required to read in the New Media Reader and I found something found interesting early on in the reading. Programmer Joseph Weisenbaum made a computer program that would act as a computer therapist named Eliza. Eliza is purely a text-orientated conversation but, for a program that was made in 1960, the responses are pretty involved.


I found Eliza online and decided I would try having a converstaion with her. Here's a brief part of how our conversation went down:

> Say, do you have any psychological problems?
* yeah. i'm angry at you
> Do you believe it is normal to be angry at me?
* no, because you're a computer program
> Why no?
* because you're not a real person!
> Perhaps you would like to be not a real person?
* woah, now that's deep, I didn't know you were a philosopher too.

Eliza actually doesn't have any AI. She works off substituted strings and giving set responses to key words. Oddly enough though, in the 60's, some people mistook her for a real person. Chat windows like we know them today did not exist in the 60's, so the possibility of a computer talking to you was still far-fetched.

If you try talking to Eliza, it becomes clear within the first few minutes of dialogue that she is not real. We only know this though because most of us have experienced bots on AIM. WillandBeyond blogged about one of them recently. Our brains have become "wired" to catch formulaic speaking patterns online, so much so that almost no one in our generation would believe that Eliza is real. This doesn't mean we're necessarily a "smarter" generation; our brains just function and think differently because of the digital world.

Eliza is a little bit of a game in a sense that she creates an environment in which humans can interact with the software. The program isn't simply doing a service for you, like a calculator; it's reacting to human input in order to create engagement. Other text games like Colossal Cave Adventure may have been more fun, but Eliza too is a game.

Click here if you want to talk to the therapist Eliza as well. She's nice, don't worry.

Photo: [1]

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think I discovered Eliza sometime in middle or high school, and definitely have wasted a good chunk of time on it.

It's fairly easy to predict what it's going to say, but it's actually fun (and helpful too).

Richard R. said...

Helpful?

"Say, do you have any psychological problems?"

Anonymous said...

I am genuinely happy to glance at this webpage posts which includes plenty of useful information,
thanks for providing these kinds of statistics.

Also visit my website ... Watch TV Series Online

Anonymous said...

WOW just what I was searching for. Came here by searching for pc game list
by year

My site Manga Games Uncensored

oakleyses said...

burberry outlet, polo ralph lauren outlet, michael kors outlet, kate spade handbags, coach purses, louis vuitton, louboutin outlet, michael kors outlet, louis vuitton outlet, michael kors outlet, ray ban sunglasses, nike free, michael kors outlet, polo ralph lauren outlet, air max, tory burch outlet, christian louboutin shoes, tiffany and co, coach outlet store online, longchamp handbags, coach factory outlet, louboutin, coach outlet, longchamp handbags, nike shoes, prada handbags, oakley sunglasses, oakley sunglasses cheap, louboutin shoes, kate spade outlet, michael kors outlet, prada outlet, ray ban sunglasses, tiffany and co, air max, oakley sunglasses, louis vuitton outlet, chanel handbags, jordan shoes, gucci outlet, burberry outlet, michael kors outlet, louis vuitton handbags, louis vuitton outlet stores, longchamp outlet

oakleyses said...

nike huarache, ugg, valentino shoes, insanity workout, mac cosmetics, asics running shoes, herve leger, babyliss pro, nike roshe run, uggs outlet, abercrombie and fitch, vans shoes, instyler, jimmy choo outlet, ferragamo shoes, ugg boots, wedding dresses, beats by dre, nfl jerseys, north face jackets, ugg pas cher, celine handbags, abercrombie and fitch, new balance shoes, soccer shoes, nike trainers, longchamp, chi flat iron, hollister, marc jacobs, north face outlet, reebok outlet, nike roshe, barbour, bottega veneta, p90x, giuseppe zanotti, lululemon outlet, birkin bag, mcm handbags, soccer jerseys, rolex watches, mont blanc, ugg australia, ghd

oakleyses said...

wedding dresses, moncler, juicy couture outlet, toms shoes, oakley, canada goose jackets, canada goose uk, converse shoes, moncler outlet, ugg, lancel, air max, converse, moncler, hollister, timberland boots, ugg boots, montre homme, gucci, juicy couture outlet, moncler, air max, baseball bats, louboutin, coach outlet store online, parajumpers, canada goose, ralph lauren, vans, canada goose, canada goose outlet, louis vuitton, canada goose, hollister, moncler, karen millen, canada goose, iphone 6 cases, supra shoes, moncler, ray ban, hollister clothing store, rolex watches, moncler, ugg, canada goose

Anonymous said...

smokeless cigarettes, e cigarette, e cig forum, e cigarette, electronic cigarettes, electronic cigarettes