In 1966, the computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum published his computer programme ELIZA. Developed as a programme for the study of natural language communication between human and machine, ELIZA was able to simulate different interlocutors via scripts. Most famously, the DOCTOR script simulated a Rogerian therapist.

Two years later, during a research stay at MIT, the sociologist Harold Garfinkel used various conversations with ELIZA to investigate how people manage to understand the expressions of others. While these investigations only indirectly found their way into Garfinkel’s works, they still had a great influence on the development of Science and Technology Studies.

The encounter between Garfinkel and ELIZA will be the focus of the workshop.

The respective zoom link will be sent via the CRC mailing list one week in advance.

In case you do not receive the link or have any other inquiries regarding the events please contact Hendrik Bender.