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| David Abercrombie |
July 4
1992: Death of David Abercrombie, a major figure in British phonetics.
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EXTRA for today from Mikael Parkvall's Limits of Language:
First Chatterbot
The first computer program to handle human language in a way that enabled it to communicate with humans was Eliza, so named after the character in Pygmalion/My Fair Lady. Created by Joseph Weizenbaum, Eliza would mimic Rogerian psychoanalysis, in which the psychiatrist would ask questions based on the what the patient was telling. Under some circumstances, Eliza could make the user feel s/he was really having a meaningful conversation, although the endless repetitions and loops soon became rather annoying. In reality, of course, Eliza never “understood” any of the input provided, but simply matched it to certain predefined patterns.
Example of a conversation with Eliza
Eliza: Hello. I am Eliza. How can I help you?
Me: I don’t feel well.
Eliza: Why do you not feel well?
Me: Everybody hates me
Eliza: Surely not everyone?
Me: Well, most people, at least.
Eliza: Please go on.
Me: You know, they never understand me.
Eliza: You like to think they never understand you, do you not?
Me: That is certainly not the case.
Eliza: Does it please you to believe that that is certainly not the case?
Me: Not at all. I want you to help me.
Eliza: Can you elaborate on that?
Me: You know, I’ve already been to a bunch of shrinks, but people keep telling me you’re the best there is. So I’m hoping you could provide some guidance. So can you help me?
Eliza: Does that question interest you?
Me: I wouldn’t have come here if it didn’t.
Eliza: Do you wish that it didn’t?
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