Excerpt on computer 'intelligence' and Eliza chatbot with no substantive leads

Intelligence Ithough my computer appears to havea mischievous sense of humor — deleting files and crashing just before important presentations — it does not appear to enjoy listening to Bach, nor does it ever ask me to put it near the window to admire the view. I think this means it’s not intelligent, but what is ‘intelligence’? Intelligence is hard to define; I usually conclude someone is intelligent if I have an interesting conversation with them. In the workplace we typically hire people based on interview, rather than practical tests. Could a computer hold a conversation with me and persuade me it is intelligent? Meet Eliza. Invented by Joseph Weizenbaum of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and named after George Bernard Shaw’s character in Pygmalion, Eliza runs an algorithm pretending to be a psychiatrist offering a sympathetic ear to anyone who cares to talk. Try her out at my website or read the sample dialogue below! User: Men are all alike. Eliza: In what way? USER: Men are all alike. ELIZA: In what way ? USER: They’re always bugging us about something or other. ELIZA: Can you think of a specific example ? USER: Well, my boyfriend made me come here. ELIZA: Your boyfriend made you come here ? USER: He says I’m depressed much of the time. ELIZA: | am sorry to hear that you are depressed. USER: It’s true. | am unhappy. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_015715