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SUMMARY:'The Ineradicable Eliza Effect and Its Dangers': Weizenbaum\, Pygm
 alion and the implications of gendering AI - Sarah Dillon (Faculty of Engl
 ish)
DTSTART:20191114T130000Z
DTEND:20191114T140000Z
UID:TALK132031@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Richard Staley
DESCRIPTION:Preface 4 of Douglas Hofstadter's _Fluid Concepts and Creative
  Analogies: Computer Models and the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought_ (19
 95) is entitled 'The Ineradicable Eliza Effect and Its Dangers'. Hofstadte
 r defines the Eliza effect as an 'illusion'\, 'which could be defined as t
 he susceptibility of people to read far more understanding than is warrant
 ed into strings of symbols – especially words – strung together by com
 puters' (157). More widely\, the Eliza effect in computer science names ou
 r tendency to unconsciously assume that computer behaviours are analogous 
 to human behaviours\, with a consequent effect on our perception of their 
 ontological status. Hofstadter considers this dangerous in its effects bec
 ause it misrepresents the capacities and capabilities of the research\, an
 d the technologies it creates. 'The operational term here is'\, he says\, 
 'hype'\, but with an interesting caveat\, 'and yet it is'\, he repeatedly 
 says\, 'inadvertent' (167). He acknowledges that it benefits the researche
 rs\, but he describes it as merely an 'overly charitable way of characteri
 zing what has happened' (157). For Hofstadter\, the Eliza effect is not ma
 l-intentioned\, but 'like a tenacious virus that constantly mutates'\, he 
 says\, it 'seems to crop up over and over again in AI in ever-fresh disgui
 ses\, and in subtler and subtler forms' (158). Hofstadter identifies this 
 phenomenon\, but he is doing so as a scientist\, in relation to its conseq
 uence for scientists and scientific research. What he does not do is think
  about the social and ethical consequences of the Eliza effect\, and about
  the role of rhetoric in triggering it. In this paper\, I explore the Eliz
 a effect in this regard\, from a feminist and a literary perspective. The 
 Eliza effect gets its name from the responses to Joseph Weizenbaum's first
  natural language processing software\, ELIZA\, which he named after the h
 eroine of George Bernard Shaw's play _Pygmalion_ (1913). Understanding ELI
 ZA's historical and literary origin stories highlights the role of genderi
 ng in triggering the Eliza effect\, and its feminist dangers. This literar
 y historical case-study can then inform contemporary debate regarding\, fo
 r instance\, the societal harm of the gendering of virtual personal assist
 ants\, in particular in relation to such social consequences as the object
 ification of women\, and the replication of gendered models of power and s
 ubservience. More broadly\, the paper demonstrates the role that literary 
 narratives play in shaping the development\, reception and impact of scien
 ce and technology.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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