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Play it again, Technolog
During the early 1960s, Jerry Weizenbaum of MIT teamed with Kenneth Colby, a Stanford psychiatrist, to create a computer program that would simulate the psychotherapy process. The program, called ELIZA, generated appropriate conversation in response to the user's statements. To many people, the program was so convincing that it seemed that they really were speaking to a responsive psychotherapist. An example:
HELLO. I AM THE DOCTOR. PLEASE TELL ME ABOUT YOUR PROBLEM. TYPE IN COMPLETE SENTENCES AND ALWAYS END YOUR SENTENCE WITH A PERIOD.
My mother makes me so mad sometimes.
CAN YOU GIVE ME AN EXAMPLE?
She phoned me and expected me to drop everything.
TELL ME ABOUT YOUR FAMILY.
I hate my parents.
WHY DO YOU HATE YOUR PARENTS?
They won't let me go.
IS IT IMPORTANT THAT THEY WON'T LET YOU GO?
I'm suffocating.
Colby and Weizenbaum eventually disagreed on the ethics of computer psychotherapy. Weizenbaum felt that the human interaction involved in psychotherapy was essential. Weizenbaum was also displeased with the program because he knew that the computer was only responding to a sequence of words or key words and not actually understanding the user's statement. Users, however, did not know this. For example, if the user typed "mother," "father," or some other familial noun, the computer would respond with, "Tell me about your family." The computer could also invert certain sentence forms into questions. If the user wrote "I hate you," the computer would respond, "Why do you hate me?"
Part of ELIZA's success stemmed from the mysterious and fantastical aura surrounding computers in the 1960s. Very few people had ever used computers or knew what they were capable of and how they worked. As computers became more accessible, people realized that it would be very difficult for a computer to actually engage in meaningful conversation with a user without resorting to an extremely complex algorithm. As they began to understand that the computer could not really comprehend their words, the mystic powers of ELIZA were diminished.
--Winter 1986
Since the war, employers have increasingly hired women with technical degrees. The demand for women is highest in chemistry, engineering, drafting, inspection engineering, metallurgy, and physics. Employers have found women to be highly qualified employees. As one employer stated, "In general, our experience with technically trained college women has shown them to do very well on manipulative work and repetitive accumulation of data on routine analytical assignments." He indicated that some women were hesitant to accept responsibility and criticism but noted that physical strength typically was not a factor in job performance.
Employers express concern over the "matrimonial mortality" factor: the high turnover of women due to marriage and childbirth. Some companies are reluctant to advance women into positions requiring a great deal of responsibility and experience because of the high cost of finding a replacement. Increasingly, however, women are choosing to continue their careers after marriage. They find that they enjoy their work and the lucrative salaries that accompany their jobs. Because the field of scientific research is growing rapidly, the number of technical positions open to intelligent, qualified, and imaginative women is likely to continue to exceed the supply.
--October 1946
