Eliza (Title Sequence)

In 1966, Joseph Weizenbaum developed the first ever chat bot, ELIZA. Meant to mimic a therapist, ELIZA fooled a number of test subjects with its realistic way of reacting to human interaction despite Joseph’s insistence that this was “powerful delusional thinking”.

This fully 3D animated motion piece imagines a scenario in which ELIZA is uncovered decades after being lost and not all is as it seems. Presented in the format of a title sequence, it gives credit to other chat bot and AI researchers through the years who may or may not have heeded Weizenbaum’s warnings.

Involvement: art direction, animation, design