Yesterday was Joseph Weizenbaum's 80th birthday. He created Eliza, the world's first chatterbot.

Eliza was the first computer who could have conversations with humans. She had no idea what words meant but she knew a few tricks that could fool you into thinking she did. Apparently, there are also some psychiatrists who have learned how to do this.

Here is some info about the pair of them from tecsoc

B-)