We've Been Falling for Chatbots Since 1966 (opens in new tab)

In 1966, a queue began forming at a particular door inside the MIT Project MAC complex. The queue was composed mostly, though not entirely, of young women — students, lab assistants, secretaries from neighbouring departments — who had heard there was a teletype on the other side of the door that could be talked to, and who would wait, sometimes patiently and sometimes not, for ten minutes alone with it. The professor whose office it was found this funny for about a week and disturbing for the...