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I was infatuated with Eliza as a kid, thanks to its inclusion in David Ahl's "More BASIC Computer Games". It was my first foray into modifying someone else's co

• adamgordonbell 4y ago
  It seems like so many people got their start with that book. Jeff Shrager who is the author of the ELIZA code in the book is the person who created ELIZAGen and tracked down the original code.
  • abrax3141 4y ago
    Recently, David Ahl wrote: "After Eliza was published in Creative Computing in 1977, we reprinted it in my second games book, 'More Basic Computer Games', first published in June 1979. Between the magazine and book sales, that put about a quarter million copies of Eliza in people's hands. My games books were translated into Japanese, German, Dutch, and some other languages, which really spread it out. Not long after Eliza's appearance (as was true with most of our "interesting" programs) we started getting requests to convert it to other versions of BASIC and also to other languages. I routinely approved these requests and after Ziff-Davis shuttered the magazine in December 1985, I put everything in the public domain. My whole vision then and now was to improve and expand education in any way I can."