Researchers have successfully brought back ELIZA which is recognized as the world’s first chatbot after it was missing for six decades. Joseph Weizenbaum at MIT developed the program in the 1960s to simulate a psychotherapist conversation which became one of the first instances of human-computer interaction.
Cognitive scientist Jeff Shrager from Stanford University along with MIT archivist Myles Crowley discovered the original code written in MAD-SLIP in 2021. The team successfully debugged the code and developed an emulator to operate it on current systems which enabled them to revive ELIZA on December 21, 2024.
A 420-line code believed to be lost was discovered in papers belonging to Weizenbaum. The program’s simple conversational skills were less advanced than modern AI systems but its ability to steer discussions through follow-up questions represented a pioneering achievement during its time.
The researchers preserved ELIZA’s original state by leaving a minor bug uncorrected to maintain the program’s authenticity. The choice to maintain the program as-is demonstrates a commitment to preserving its historical integrity. The renewed interest in ELIZA shows its foundational impact on AI development for human-computer interaction despite its simpler design compared to modern AI systems.
Source: Bongo Wiki
