Even though they were democratized in 2015, when Facebook launched its API for creating chatbots, virtual assistants had already existed for (a very) long time, with Eliza as early as the mid-60s. Eliza was not technically a “chatbot”, but rather a computer program reformulating statements into questions. Written by professor and computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum, this program took the form of a psychotherapist apparently able of understanding and empathy.
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