Aahz wrote: > In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, > Tim Roberts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> Jeff Schwab <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>> Roel Schroeven wrote: >>>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] schreef: >>>>> On Mar 14, 1:47 pm, "Reedick, Andrew" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>>>>> How do you feel about creator of Eliza? >>>>> What is Eliza? >>>> Does that question interest you? >>> Well played, sir. >>> >>> Earlier you said what is Eliza. Do you still feel that way? >> I am embarrassed to say that this vaguely disrespectful exchange made me >> laugh out loud. > > Serious: why do you think this is disrespectful?
Not to speak for Tim, but I imagine it could be perceived as disrespectful because Prof. Weizenbaum has only recently passed away. In fact, I think the Prof would be very happy to see people having some fun at the expense of AI, which he saw as a real threat to human freedom. http://www-tech.mit.edu/V128/N12/weizenbaum.html "Named for the heroine of My Fair Lady, ELIZA was perhaps the first instance of what today is known as a chatterbot program. Specifically, the ELIZA program simulated a conversation between a patient and a psychotherapist by using a person’s responses to shape the computer’s replies. Weizenbaum was shocked to discover that many users were taking his program seriously and were opening their hearts to it. The experience prompted him to think philosophically about the implications of artificial intelligence, and, later, to become a critic of it. "In 1976, he authored Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment to Calculation, in which he displayed ambivalence toward computer technology and warned against giving machines the responsibility for making genuinely human choices. Specifically, Weizenbaum argued that it was not just wrong but dangerous and, in some cases, immoral to assume that computers would be able to do anything given enough processing power and clever programming." See also: http://www-ai.ijs.si/eliza-cgi-bin/eliza_script You: What is Eliza? Eliza: Does that question interest you? -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
