Joseph Weizenbaum
Encyclopedia
Joseph Weizenbaum was a German-American author and professor emeritus of computer science
at MIT
.
in January 1936, emigrating with his family to the United States
. He started studying mathematics in 1941 in the U.S., but his studies were interrupted by the war, during which he served in the military. Around 1952 he worked on analog computer
s, and helped create a digital computer for Wayne State University
. In 1956 he worked for General Electric
on ERMA
, a computer system that introduced the use of the magnetically-encoded fonts imprinted on the bottom border of checks, allowing automated check processing via Magnetic Ink Character Recognition
(MICR). In 1964 he took a position at MIT.
In 1966, he published a comparatively simple program called ELIZA
, named after the ingenue
in George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion
, which performed natural language processing
. Driven by a script named DOCTOR, it was capable of engaging humans in a conversation which bore a striking resemblance to one with an empathic psychologist. Weizenbaum modeled its conversational style after Carl Rogers
, who introduced the use of open-ended questions to encourage patients to communicate more effectively with therapists. The program applied pattern matching rules to the human's statements to figure out its replies. (Programs like this are now called chatterbot
s.) It is considered the forerunner of thinking machines. Weizenbaum was shocked that his program was taken seriously by many users, who would open their hearts to it. He started to think philosophically about the implications of artificial intelligence
and later became one of its leading critics.
His influential 1976 book Computer Power and Human Reason
displays his ambivalence towards computer technology and lays out his case: while Artificial Intelligence may be possible, we should never allow computers to make important decisions because computers will always lack human qualities such as compassion
and wisdom
. Weizenbaum makes the crucial distinction between deciding and choosing. Deciding is a computational activity, something that can ultimately be programmed. It is the capacity to choose that ultimately makes us human. Choice, however, is the product of judgment, not calculation. Comprehensive human judgment is able to include non-mathematical factors, such as emotions. Judgment can compare apples and oranges, and can do so without quantifying each fruit type and then reductively quantifying each to factors necessary for comparison.
Weizenbaum was the creator of the SLIP programming language
.
In 1996, Weizenbaum moved to Berlin and lived in the vicinity of his childhood neighborhood.
A German documentary film on Weizenbaum was released in 2007 and later dubbed in English. The documentary film Plug & Pray
on Weizenbaum and the ethics of artificial intelligence was released in 2010.
Until his death he was Chairman of the Scientific Council at the Institute of Electronic Business in Berlin. In addition to working at MIT, Weizenbaum held academic appointments at Harvard, Stanford, the University of Bremen, and other universities.
Weizenbaum was reportedly buried at the Jewish Cemetery in Berlin. A memorial service was held in Berlin on March 18, 2008.
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
at MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
.
Life and career
Born in Berlin, Germany to Jewish parents, he escaped Nazi GermanyNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
in January 1936, emigrating with his family to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He started studying mathematics in 1941 in the U.S., but his studies were interrupted by the war, during which he served in the military. Around 1952 he worked on analog computer
Analog computer
An analog computer is a form of computer that uses the continuously-changeable aspects of physical phenomena such as electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic quantities to model the problem being solved...
s, and helped create a digital computer for Wayne State University
Wayne State University
Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...
. In 1956 he worked for General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
on ERMA
Electronic Recording Machine, Accounting
ERMA , was a pioneering computer development project run at SRI under contract to Bank of America in order to automate banking bookkeeping...
, a computer system that introduced the use of the magnetically-encoded fonts imprinted on the bottom border of checks, allowing automated check processing via Magnetic Ink Character Recognition
Magnetic ink character recognition
Magnetic Ink Character Recognition, or MICR, is a character recognition technology used primarily by the banking industry to facilitate the processing of cheques and makes up the routing number and account number at the bottom of a check. The technology allows computers to read information off...
(MICR). In 1964 he took a position at MIT.
In 1966, he published a comparatively simple program called ELIZA
ELIZA
ELIZA is a computer program and an early example of primitive natural language processing. ELIZA operated by processing users' responses to scripts, the most famous of which was DOCTOR, a simulation of a Rogerian psychotherapist. Using almost no information about human thought or emotion, DOCTOR...
, named after the ingenue
Ingenue (stock character)
See also Disingenuous, which is not quite the antonym that it may seem!The ingénue is a stock character in literature, film, and a role type in the theatre; generally a girl or a young woman who is endearingly innocent and wholesome. Ingenue may also refer to a new young actress or one typecast in...
in George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion
Pygmalion (play)
Pygmalion: A Romance in Five Acts is a play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Professor of phonetics Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of...
, which performed natural language processing
Natural language processing
Natural language processing is a field of computer science and linguistics concerned with the interactions between computers and human languages; it began as a branch of artificial intelligence....
. Driven by a script named DOCTOR, it was capable of engaging humans in a conversation which bore a striking resemblance to one with an empathic psychologist. Weizenbaum modeled its conversational style after Carl Rogers
Carl Rogers
Carl Ransom Rogers was an influential American psychologist and among the founders of the humanistic approach to psychology...
, who introduced the use of open-ended questions to encourage patients to communicate more effectively with therapists. The program applied pattern matching rules to the human's statements to figure out its replies. (Programs like this are now called chatterbot
Chatterbot
A chatter robot, chatterbot, chatbot, or chat bot is a computer program designed to simulate an intelligent conversation with one or more human users via auditory or textual methods, primarily for engaging in small talk. The primary aim of such simulation has been to fool the user into thinking...
s.) It is considered the forerunner of thinking machines. Weizenbaum was shocked that his program was taken seriously by many users, who would open their hearts to it. He started to think philosophically about the implications of artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
and later became one of its leading critics.
His influential 1976 book Computer Power and Human Reason
Computer Power and Human Reason
Joseph Weizenbaum's influential 1976 book Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment To Calculation displays his ambivalence towards computer technology and lays out his case: while artificial intelligence may be possible, we should never allow computers to make important decisions because...
displays his ambivalence towards computer technology and lays out his case: while Artificial Intelligence may be possible, we should never allow computers to make important decisions because computers will always lack human qualities such as compassion
Compassion
Compassion is a virtue — one in which the emotional capacities of empathy and sympathy are regarded as a part of love itself, and a cornerstone of greater social interconnection and humanism — foundational to the highest principles in philosophy, society, and personhood.There is an aspect of...
and wisdom
Wisdom
Wisdom is a deep understanding and realization of people, things, events or situations, resulting in the ability to apply perceptions, judgements and actions in keeping with this understanding. It often requires control of one's emotional reactions so that universal principles, reason and...
. Weizenbaum makes the crucial distinction between deciding and choosing. Deciding is a computational activity, something that can ultimately be programmed. It is the capacity to choose that ultimately makes us human. Choice, however, is the product of judgment, not calculation. Comprehensive human judgment is able to include non-mathematical factors, such as emotions. Judgment can compare apples and oranges, and can do so without quantifying each fruit type and then reductively quantifying each to factors necessary for comparison.
Weizenbaum was the creator of the SLIP programming language
SLIP programming language
SLIP is a list processing computer programming language, invented by Joseph Weizenbaum in the 1960s. The name SLIP stands for Symmetric LIst Processor...
.
In 1996, Weizenbaum moved to Berlin and lived in the vicinity of his childhood neighborhood.
A German documentary film on Weizenbaum was released in 2007 and later dubbed in English. The documentary film Plug & Pray
Plug & Pray
Plug & Pray is a 2010 documentary film about the promise, problems and ethics of artificial intelligence and robotics. The main protagonists are the former MIT professor Joseph Weizenbaum and the futurist Raymond Kurzweil.- Synopsis :...
on Weizenbaum and the ethics of artificial intelligence was released in 2010.
Until his death he was Chairman of the Scientific Council at the Institute of Electronic Business in Berlin. In addition to working at MIT, Weizenbaum held academic appointments at Harvard, Stanford, the University of Bremen, and other universities.
Weizenbaum was reportedly buried at the Jewish Cemetery in Berlin. A memorial service was held in Berlin on March 18, 2008.
Works
- "ELIZA — A Computer Program for the Study of Natural Language Communication between Man and Machine," Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery 9 (1966): 36-45.
- Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment To CalculationComputer Power and Human ReasonJoseph Weizenbaum's influential 1976 book Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment To Calculation displays his ambivalence towards computer technology and lays out his case: while artificial intelligence may be possible, we should never allow computers to make important decisions because...
, San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1976 ISBN 0-7167-0464-1
See also
- Ethics of artificial intelligenceEthics of artificial intelligenceThe ethics of artificial intelligence is the part of the ethics of technology specific to robots and other artificially intelligent beings. It is typically divided into roboethics, a concern with the moral behavior of humans as they design, construct, use and treat artificially intelligent beings,...
under The threat to human dignity - Artificial IntelligenceArtificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
- PsychologyPsychologyPsychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
External links
- Joseph Weizenbaum: 1988 Winner of CPSR's Norbert Wiener Award for Professional and Social Responsibility
- A Java applet faithfully recreating the original ELIZA
- Institute of Electronic Business
- Documentary film with and about Joseph Weizenbaum ( "WEIZENBAUM. Rebel at Work." )
- Essay by Noah Wardrip-Fruin on the ELIZA effect
- Obituary, The Independent, 18 March 2008
- Obituary, The Times, 24 March 2008
- Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 11.11.2010 article about a documentary that was filmed shortly before his death