TECHNOLOGY

Before Chat GPT: here are the pioneers who paved the way for artificial intelligence

Conversational artificial intelligence is one of the most important and rapidly evolving fields of research in the world of computing.

Today, virtual assistants such as Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant have become an integral part of our daily lives. But, as is often the case, the success of the present is based on the work of past pioneers.

Before Chat GPT, in fact, chatbots that could replicate conversations with humans already existed. In this article, we will explore the evolution of conversational artificial intelligences, starting from the first experiments in the 1960s to modern virtual assistants based on the most advanced artificial intelligence technology.

We will discover how these pioneers set the course for the conversational artificial intelligences of the future, paving the way for a world of new possibilities for human-machine dialogue.

Freepik
Before Chat GPT-4: here are the pioneers who paved the way for artificial intelligence
Conversational artificial intelligence is one of the most important and rapidly evolving fields of research in the world of computing. Today, virtual assistants such as Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant have become an integral part of our daily lives. But, as is often the case, the success of the present is based on the work of past pioneers. Before Chat GPT, in fact, chatbots that could replicate conversations with humans already existed. In this article, we will explore the evolution of conversational artificial intelligences, starting from the first experiments in the 1960s to modern virtual assistants based on the most advanced artificial intelligence technology. We will discover how these pioneers set the course for the conversational artificial intelligences of the future, paving the way for a world of new possibilities for human-machine dialogue.
By Unknown author - File:ELIZA conversation.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/inde
ELIZA (1966)
Developed by Joseph Weizenbaum at MIT, it was the first chatbot in history. It reproduced a therapist providing generic answers to the user's questions, simulating a real conversation.
Freepik
PARRY (1972)
Developed by Kenneth Colby at Stanford University, it was created to simulate a schizophrenic patient and replicate therapeutic conversations. The program came to an end in 1978.
Freepik
RACTER (1984)
Developed by William Chamberlain and Thomas Etter, it was a chatbot that could generate poems and science fiction stories. It was published in 1984 by Mindscape and was active until 1991.
flickr
A.L.I.C.E. - Artificial Linguistic Internet Computer Entity (1995)
Developed by Richard Wallace, it was a chatbot capable of replicating a conversation with a human being. It was active until 2018.
By The original uploader was ThefirstM at English Wikipedia. - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Comm
SmarterChild (2001)
Developed by ActiveBuddy, it was a virtual assistant featured on AIM, MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger. It was shut down in 2008.
MSN
Doretta (2007)
Doretta supported users' online searches of Windows Live Messenger, the instant messaging service of Microsoft.
By Kavakavins111 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=84123347
Siri (2010)
Developed by Apple for iOS devices, it was one of the first successful virtual assistants. It is still active and evolving.
By Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler / Scalable Grid Engine - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.
Alexa (2014)
Developed by Amazon, it is a virtual assistant that can be used through the Echo device. It is still active and evolving.
By Maurizio Pesce from Milan, Italia - Android Assistant on the Google Pixel XL smartphone, CC BY 2.
Google Assistant (2016)
Developed by Google, it is a virtual assistant available on  Android devices and Google Home. It is still active and evolving.
web site screenshot
BERT (2018)
Developed by Google, it is an artificial intelligence model that can understand the context of conversations and provide more accurate and personalized responses. It is used as the basis for many modern virtual assistants.
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