The Internet Archive has just made decades of classic AI accessible to play in your browser, and it's truly intriguing.

      Before the advent of large language models, an entire generation of home computer software was already trying to emulate the experience of conversing with a living entity.

      The Internet Archive consistently preserves items that are unique and often overlooked, and its latest collection exemplifies this practice. This collection, titled “Vintage Artificial Intelligence,” is a must-bookmark for anyone studying the history of AI.

      Curated by Jason Scott, the collection encompasses decades of software from the 1970s to the 1990s that aimed to persuade users they were interacting with a thinking machine, albeit with varying degrees of success.

      So, what can you find in this new collection?

      The collection includes emulated software that can be played directly in a browser. While none of these programs truly possess intelligence, the focus is on how convincingly these vintage applications can simulate conversations with a real person.

      At the heart of the collection is ELIZA, which features Joseph Weizenbaum’s DOCTOR script designed to imitate a therapist. Its effectiveness was such that early users reportedly confided in it as if it were a living individual—a feat that still holds significance today.

      The archive includes numerous versions of this software due to multiple rewrites. Additionally, there’s Racter, a commercial chatbot from 1985 that extended beyond mere conversation by generating complete passages of prose, some of which were so unusual that they made their way into published works. It can be seen as a peculiar precursor to the capabilities of modern LLMs.

      How can you try out these programs?

      In addition to the chatbots, Activision’s Alter Ego invites users to navigate through simulated life stages in a decision-making game designed by psychologists. Conversely, Little Computer People, created by David Crane, who also developed Pitfall!, explores the idea of tiny people secretly existing within your computer—an idea that was surprisingly ahead of its time.

      Suspended allows a cryogenically frozen player’s mind to be divided among six distinct robots, with each one assigned to tackle a specific task—an arrangement that feels eerily familiar in contemporary contexts. The collection also pays tribute to early autonomous agent games like Robot War, where players programmed fighters to battle autonomously.

      If you’re interested, you can explore the collection directly on the Internet Archive's website without any downloading or setup. Everything operates through in-browser emulation. It offers an enjoyable opportunity to see how today's AI conversations have evolved from simpler iterations decades before they became complex, making it a worthwhile way to spend your afternoon.

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