An early AI program that understood English commands and moved blocks in a tiny world.
SHRDLU was like a tiny LEGO foreman. It understood block orders, but off the LEGO table, it was lost.
Researchers used it to study early language understanding. In its small world, it could chat, reason, and move blocks.
Symbolic AI
SHRDLU was one of the early wow moments for Symbolic AI.
NLU
SHRDLU turned English commands into block actions.
Planning
SHRDLU planned the steps after it understood a command.
ELIZA
ELIZA mostly chatted, but SHRDLU could act in a small world.