> the Eliza effect, where a simple program with well chosen weasel words could people the sensation of talking to a human.

I would like to reframe Eliza as being an implementation of a small subset of "HCP" (Human Communication Protocol) . Obviously an implementation with very little actual data to transmit over said protocol in that exact implementation.

But it's pretty clear it managed to pull off the handshake part of the protocol successfully, at least. Try to say it didn't.

Sadly the developer decided that the eliza effect was a psychological disorder; and didn't pursue further experiments at the time.

Pretty much anything can get labeled a psychological disorder though. I'm half-seriously waiting for "Perfectly Happy And Normal Disorder" to be added to DSM 6. ;-)

edit: Someone beat me to it. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1376114/ "A proposal to classify happiness as a psychiatric disorder."