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To speak only of Joseph Weizenbaum's lifetime technological
achievements would not do him justice. He is an engineer and computer
scientist by profession but a humanitarian at heart. Weizenbaum has a
deep concern for education and the direction for computer applications.
When asked about the benefits computers could bring to the classroom,
Weizenbaum's reply was indicative of establishing a first priority to
determine what problems currently exist within the institution. Only
after answering such questions about education can one look to computers to
provide some answers. Aside from developing the world's first banking
software for Bank of America, Weizenbaum has contributed to the field of
artificial intelligence and is the author of the famous ELIZA program.
ELIZA, modeled from Rogerian psychology, is a computer program that carries
out natural language conversations with the user. Weizenbaum firmly
believes that science is not impenetrable to the human will, and he hopes
that students today consider the moral and ethical ramifications of their
work. |
