Chatbot

Noun · AI & Machine Learning · Origin: 1966

Definitions

  1. A program that simulates conversation with human users. Ranges from ELIZA's 1966 pattern-matching parlor tricks to modern LLM-powered assistants that can debug your code, write your emails, and politely decline to help you do anything illegal.

    In plain English: A computer program you can have a conversation with — from simple customer service bots that follow scripts to advanced AI assistants that can discuss almost anything.

  2. The evolution from rule-based chatbots (if user says X, respond Y) to retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) chatbots to fully agentic assistants happened in about five years. Each generation made the previous one look primitive.

    Example: 'Our support chatbot handles 73% of tickets without human intervention now. In 2022 it could barely understand 'reset my password.''

    Source: evolutionary perspective

Etymology

1966
Joseph Weizenbaum creates ELIZA at MIT, a pattern-matching program that mimics a therapist — the first chatbot
1995
A.L.I.C.E. (Artificial Linguistic Internet Computer Entity) advances chatbot design with AIML markup
2022
ChatGPT redefines the chatbot from a novelty to a productivity tool, reaching 100 million users in two months

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