Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
From The Vergecast, this episode takes a look back at one of the earliest chapters in the history of AI. Before Alexa and Siri, there was ELIZA. The first chatbot ever was the creation of a man named Joseph Weizenbaum, who built the bot almost as a magic trick — and then couldn't believe how many people fell for it. David Berry and Mark Marino, two members of a team dedicated to restoring and understanding ELIZA, explain how Weizenbaum created the virtual conversant, why he came to regret it, and what ELIZA can teach us about life in the AI age.
0:00 Intro
01:24 90 Seconds on The Verge
03:12 Who Was Joseph Weizenbaum?
05:47 The Big Con
08:48 What ELIZA Was For
11:55 Computing In The 1960s
15:12 Why Do People Believe In Tricks?
19:07 Weizenbaum Turns Critic
26:54 The Distinction Between Calculating and Understanding
30:22 The ELIZA effect today
35:18 Making The Trick Visible
37:44 What Weizenbaum Would Think
40:02 Wrap Up
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From The Vergecast, this episode takes a look back at one of the earliest chapters in the history of AI. Before Alexa and Siri, there was ELIZA. The first chatbot ever was the creation of a man named Joseph Weizenbaum, who built the bot almost as a magic trick — and then couldn't believe how many people fell for it. David Berry and Mark Marino, two members of a team dedicated to restoring and understanding ELIZA, explain how Weizenbaum created the virtual conversant, why he came to regret it, and what ELIZA can teach us about life in the AI age.
0:00 Intro
01:24 90 Seconds on The Verge
03:12 Who Was Joseph Weizenbaum?
05:47 The Big Con
08:48 What ELIZA Was For
11:55 Computing In The 1960s
15:12 Why Do People Believe In Tricks?
19:07 Weizenbaum Turns Critic
26:54 The Distinction Between Calculating and Understanding
30:22 The ELIZA effect today
35:18 Making The Trick Visible
37:44 What Weizenbaum Would Think
40:02 Wrap Up
Subscribe: goo.gl/G5RXGs
Like The Verge on Facebook: goo.gl/2P1aGc
Follow on Twitter: goo.gl/XTWX61
Follow on Instagram: goo.gl/7ZeLv
Watch The Vergecast on YouTube: bit.ly/40RFRkg
The Vergecast Podcast: bit.ly/3WQDexZ
Decoder with Nilay Patel: apple.co/3v29nDc
More about our podcasts: theverge.com/podcasts
Read More: theverge.com
Community guidelines: bit.ly/2D0hlAv
Wallpapers from The Verge: bit.ly/2xQXYJr
Shop our Verge merch store here: bit.ly/4kPCmEc
Subscribe to The Verge: bit.ly/3FT6n5S
If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may receive a commission without exerting any influence on editorial content. For more information about our ethics policy, visit: bit.ly/3ZWTlLs
