The 1970s AI Time Traveler

Back in the 1970s, AI wasn’t anything like what it is today. Simple algorithms and expert systems (which are essentially huge if-then blocks) ruled the day. Technically, there was a chatbot called ELIZA developed way back in the 1960s, but it used simple pattern matching and the rephrasing of inputs rather than a complex model that learned from mountains of data. All of these algorithms were very primitive compared to today’s large language models.

But what if things had gone differently? What if computing sprinted along faster than other technologies, and advances in AI were made at the same pace? Andrew Schmelyun imagined what a voice assistant may have looked like in the 1970s of that alternate universe. The result is a device called Artie. This desktop AI assistant uses modern computing hardware and algorithms, but with a vintage CRT TV as the user interface.

Artie is built around a Raspberry Pi 4 single-board computer that is hooked up to the TV through an HDMI-to-coaxial adapter. Once plugged into the TV’s external antenna connector, this adapter allows the Raspberry Pi to act as if it were an HDMI monitor.

The Raspberry Pi locally transcribes voice requests, then sends them off to an LLM in the cloud for processing. When the response is received, the Pi then runs a local tool that converts the text to a synthetic voice. To amp up Artie’s personality, the TV displays a face with eyes that move around and blink. That was made possible by running a local web server, and loading it in a borderless web browser that is shown on the TV. Any animations that need to be shown can be coded in HTML and JavaScript.

Schmelyun wanted to see if he could take Artie beyond the basics, so he also connected it to a vintage dot matrix printer for when he wants something printed out. He had previously hacked together some hardware to put this printer on a Wi-Fi network, so all this required was telling the LLM about the capability and how to use it.

Artie may not be very practical—you can do all of the same things with your phone and not have to lug around a CRT TV. But Artie has got vintage charm that modern tech cannot match. If you have an extra TV sitting around waiting for a project, this might be the one you are looking for.