The concept of a chatbot has been around since the 1960s, when MIT professor Joseph Weizenbaum developed the first chatbot ever, ELIZA. ELIZA was programmed to simulate conversation with a human user by responding to their input with questions and comments.
ELIZA was designed to mimic the language of a psychotherapist, and was able to engage in conversations with users about a variety of topics. ELIZA was able to respond to questions and comments with relevant responses, and was even able to detect certain keywords in the user’s input and respond accordingly. For example, if the user asked a question about their feelings, ELIZA would respond with a question about the user’s emotions.
ELIZA was an impressive feat of programming for its time, and it set the stage for the development of more advanced chatbots. Since then, chatbots have become increasingly sophisticated, and are now used in a variety of industries, from customer service to healthcare.
ELIZA may not have been the most advanced chatbot, but it was certainly the first. Its development in the 1960s paved the way for the development of more advanced chatbots, and its influence can still be seen in the chatbots of today. ELIZA may be long gone, but its legacy lives on.