• What is this???
    • Eliza is a proto-chatbot, first written in 1966. She mimics a Rogerian psychotherapist, using simple pattern recognition and a short list of responses to carry on a conversation. Her creator, Joseph Weizebaum, was surprised and disturbed by how quickly users ascribed a personality to her even though they knew she was software.

      I wrote the programming language Entropy in 2010 to address the way compulsive habits are reinforced by the act of programming. In Entropy, all data decays over time, forcing the programmer to approximate, to give up precision and control as disorder sets in.

      I wondered what personality Eliza would have when written in Entropy. I adapted the program, keeping her logic and bank of phrases intact, and the result was Drunk Eliza.