fas1@aluxe.UUCP (PATEL) (01/21/86)
*from Stephen Wong , AL bell labs. Does anyone know about two AI software packages callled Elisa and Mom ? I am interested to obtain the information of their applications and vendors. Please post the news to newsgroup net.ai or net.cse, or mail information to my location. 9333 s. john young parkway, orlando, fl 32819, stephen
friesen@psivax.UUCP (Stanley Friesen) (01/23/86)
In article <842@aluxe.UUCP> fas1@aluxe.UUCP (PATEL) writes: >*from Stephen Wong , AL bell labs. >Does anyone know about two AI software packages callled Elisa and Mom ? >I am interested to obtain the information of their applications and vendors. > I don't know about Mom, but Eliza is a well known program. I would hesitate to call it AI though. It is more of an *early* experiment in natural language parsing. It purports to be an on-line psycho-analyst. It "listens"(via the terminal) to English input and attempts to derive typical, meaningful responses of the sort a real analyst would produce. It exists in many versions from many sources, in fact it is essentially public domain. Many UNIX systems have a version in /usr/games called 'doctor', why not check and see if it is there. BTW it can be confused quite easily, and is generally quite predictable. Thus its inclusion among the games on UNIX, it is really nothing more than an exhibition piece, of no real value. -- Sarima (Stanley Friesen) UUCP: {ttidca|ihnp4|sdcrdcf|quad1|nrcvax|bellcore|logico}!psivax!friesen ARPA: ttidca!psivax!friesen@rand-unix.arpa
pollack@uicsl.UUCP (01/27/86)
RE: Mom There was an article by Thomas Friedman in the NYT a couple of months ago on two programs for the Atari ST written by "the Israeli equivalent of Garry Trudeau": "MOM" and "MURRAY" are animated computer personalities, They sit in comfortable chairs on the screen and talk to you. Murray is a raconteur, with supposedly an ever-expanding database of humor, and a memory for the jokes he already told you, and MOM is a typical mother figure, who can make you feel guilty for anything, even spending the $49 to buy her. Their dialog appears in white bubbles above their heads, and the user gets to type in their name and answer yes/no questions.
bantz@uiucuxc.CSO.UIUC.EDU (02/09/86)
[Response to Steven Wong, "AL bell labs" & reply of "friesen@psivax."] Both the initial request and the response seem to be unaware of the real purpose of "Eliza." Joseph Weizebaum (MIT) wrote this program to show that mere English-like responses which could, individually, be supposed to be in response to questions or comments of a human, did *not* constitute natural language understanding let alone "artificial intelligence." He took for granted that everyone would recognize that the program did *not* "understand" anything, or have anything remotely like intelligence. That eager students of AI took it for more does indeed, I think, show that the exercise had some real worth, even if only as a cautionary note.