Joseph Weizenbaum
Joseph Weizenbaum was a computer scientist at MIT whose 1966 program ELIZA made many users feel they were speaking with an empathic psychologist. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany with his family in January 1936 and studied mathematics at Wayne State University. He worked on a General Electric banking computer system before joining MIT in 1963, where he became a full professor of computer science and engineering in 1970. His 1976 book Computer Power and Human Reason warned against giving machines responsibility for genuinely human choices. Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility gave him its Norbert Wiener Award in 1988, and he died in 2008.
- Works
- 62
- Citations
- 10,545
- h-index
- 19
Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.
Timeline
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1923–1936
Emigrating from Nazi Germany
He is born in Berlin in 1923 and escapes Nazi Germany with his family in January 1936.
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1946–1948
A B.S. in mathematics
After the war, he returns to Wayne State in 1946 and earns a B.S. in mathematics in 1948.
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1955
A banking computer at General Electric
In 1955, he joins a General Electric team that designs and builds the first computer system dedicated to banking operations.
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1963–1970
A professor at MIT
He joins MIT in 1963 and receives tenure and a full professorship in computer science and engineering in 1970.
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1966
The ELIZA program
In 1966 he publishes ELIZA, and many users feel they are speaking with an empathic psychologist; afterward he grows skeptical of artificial intelligence.
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1976
Computer power and human reason
The book Computer Power and Human Reason appears in 1976, warning against giving machines responsibility for genuinely human choices.
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1988
A Norbert Wiener Award
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility gives him its Norbert Wiener Award for Professional and Social Responsibility in 1988.
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2008
A death in 2008
He dies in March 2008.
Sources and credits
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