
The ELIZA Effect (2019) - apsec112
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-eliza-effect/
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MaxBarraclough
The article doesn't explain what _ELIZA effect_ means: _the tendency to
unconsciously assume computer behaviors are analogous to human behaviors; that
is, anthropomorphisation_.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELIZA_effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELIZA_effect)

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jl2718
This is more specifically the assumption that a computer understands and more
importantly cares about what you are saying, and maybe also you as a person.
This assumption is obviously wrong for the computer, but also usually wrong
when interpreting responses from an actual therapist, or any other human, so
no difference really.

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082349872349872
Why do you mention computers? In what way is it that actual therapists are
like any other human? What does that suggest to you?

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1f60c
I see what you did there ;-)

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throwaway_pdp09
Tell me more about what you did there.

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politelemon
Related: I didn't see mentioned on the page, there is also a visual novel game
called Eliza, named after the same subject, and the in game Eliza follows a
very similar script to the text screenshot shown on the page. It's an
interesting game if you like visual novels, and it explores a few other
concepts beyond the human machine relationship.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliza_(video_game)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliza_\(video_game\))

[https://store.steampowered.com/app/716500/Eliza/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/716500/Eliza/)

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zxcvbn4038
Eliza was a staple in every basic book and magazine ever published in the 80s
and there were always copies in the computer labs, I’m sure I entered in this
by hand at some point -
[https://everything2.com/title/ELIZA+source+code+in+BASIC](https://everything2.com/title/ELIZA+source+code+in+BASIC)

I knew a guy who wrote an irc bot called “Petunia“ that wasn’t even as
sophisticated as Eliza - it would just make random statements and every time
someone sent it a message it would be added to the list of statements. It
would post everything sent and received on a web site - including a mountain
of nsfw images received - would take some people 15-20 minutes to decide that
Petunia was fake.

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zxcvbn4038
Awesome! Someone wrote Eliza in golang with a web interface
[https://github.com/mattshiel/eliza-go](https://github.com/mattshiel/eliza-go)

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shmageggy
I was wondering if this was going to be a commentary on GPT-3 (it's not),
since much of the latest hype has a similar feel as ELIZA. Of course the
verdict is still out as to what extent GPT-3 "understands", but it's clear
that the spooky realism we feel when interacting with it is partly due to our
imposing anthropomorphic interpretations, just like ELIZA.

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jermier
Yeah and we have better training material for AI now. For example it could be
possible to create a program that mimics Hackernews comments. There's more
than enough training material on HN to create plausible-looking comments that
aren't a bunch of nonsensical gobbledygook and that also pander to people's
emotions.

