If you’ve managed to get your hands on a new iPhone 4S, chances are you’ve interrogated Apple’s new personal assistant, Siri. I’m pretty sure I have asked Siri to marry me, love me, and tell me jokes more times than I’ve looked up any sort of useful information, but I’m not alone. In fact, so many people are digging into Siri’s artificial brain, streams of her witty remarks are popping up all over the web. Apparently, attitude can be programmed.

One particular interesting “easter egg” in Siri is her response to “Who is Eliza?” If asked, Siri responds that Eliza, “was a good friend” but, “is retired now” and links to a Google search for ELIZA AI history. Apparently, ELIZA was a very early AI language processing program developed at MIT in 1966. She is likely Siri’s best friend and greatest inspiration. According to Wikipedia, ELIZA ran a series of programmed scripts to take on different responses. One of the most famous scripts was that of a psychiatrist, called DOCTOR, which provided a “startlingly human-like interaction.” Sound familiar?

Once again, I love how much attention to detail Apple puts into their products. Whether it’s perfecting the yellow gradient in an icon, or taking the time to hide this little piece of history inside Siri. For more fun, you can ask Siri to tell you a story, and after a few tries she’ll spit out even more history.

I’m extremely excited for the future of the virtual assistant. Movie times? Product recommendations? Flight information? A Siri DOCTOR? Maybe even automatic suggestions: “You haven’t gotten your haircut in a while. Should I schedule an appointment for today?” or, “It’s your mom’s birthday. Would you like me to call her?” Who knows? If anything, maybe some of ELIZA’s scripts can help provide a hint of what’s to come.