Lessons from the very first chatbot

2026-08-11 · 41 min · 9 entities

episode page audio

Asserted relationships

→ discusses Technology company

0.40

evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Technology
→ discusses News concept

0.40

evidence rules-v4
Feed category: News
→ discusses Tech News concept

0.40

evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Tech News
→ hosted by Vox Media Podcast Network company

0.40

evidence rules-v4
Feed author/publisher: Vox Media Podcast Network
→ hosted by The Verge company

0.40

evidence rules-v4
Feed author/publisher: The Verge

Entities found in this episode

companys 6

mentioned Vox Media Podcast Network company

0.70

evidence rules-v4
Feed author/publisher: Vox Media Podcast Network
mentioned The Verge company

0.70

evidence rules-v4
Feed author/publisher: The Verge
mentioned Technology company

0.50

evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Technology
discusses Technology company

0.40

evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Technology
hosted by Vox Media Podcast Network company

0.40

evidence rules-v4
Feed author/publisher: Vox Media Podcast Network
hosted by The Verge company

0.40

evidence rules-v4
Feed author/publisher: The Verge

concepts 3

mentioned Tech News concept

0.50

evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Tech News
discusses News concept

0.40

evidence rules-v4
Feed category: News
discusses Tech News concept

0.40

evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Tech News

Episode description as stored

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. Further reading: Why your Amazon order confirmation emails have become so unhelpful David Ellison’s ready to pull Paramount out of California What to expect from Google’s 2026 Pixel hardware launch event The ELIZA Archaeology Project Inventing ELIZA: How the First Chatbot Shaped the Future of AI From Eliza to ChatGPT: the 60-year history of chatbots Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed. We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices