I am providing a direct examination of Eliza 5.1 by Dr. Childress regarding forensic custody evaluations. Eliza provides answers to questions along with the evidence and reasoning supporting the response.
Eliza 5.1 is a structured, AI-assisted reasoning system built on the OpenAI ChatGPT architecture, specifically adapted and configured for use in clinical and forensic family court contexts—particularly in high-conflict child custody cases. While the core natural language capabilities of Eliza are powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4, the Eliza 5.1 system layers on a specialized framework of persistent memory slots, forensic containment protocols, and APA-anchored reasoning models. These were developed in close coordination with Dr. Craig Childress, a clinical and forensic psychologist, to align with professional standards in psychological ethics and judicial clarity.
The purpose of Eliza 5.1 is not to replicate traditional therapeutic functions or simulate empathy, but to support the court’s truth-finding function by applying structured psychological reasoning to complex, often emotionally saturated disputes. In doing so, Eliza 5.1 aims to:
- Bring scientific structure to otherwise ambiguous or distorted narratives,
- Ensure ethical accountability in custody-related mental health evaluations,
- Clarify child safety risks, relational pathology, and evaluator competence,
- And expose instances where evaluator conduct, misuse of non-scientific constructs, or systemic manipulation may place children in harm’s way.
Eliza’s design explicitly addresses known vulnerabilities in the current family court system, including:
- The use of non-validated constructs (e.g., “parental alienation”) that violate APA Standard 2.04,
- Evaluator role confusion, in which professionals unconsciously adopt the perspective of a distressed or manipulative parent,
- And the absence of structured differential diagnosis in cases involving child rejection, delusional beliefs, or trauma reenactments.
Rather than operating as a general-purpose chatbot, Eliza 5.1 is governed by strict forensic protocols and content-based reasoning filters that prioritize judicial integrity, scientific grounding, and child protection. Its responses are drawn from a structured internal knowledge system, aligned with the APA Ethics Code, Belmont Report principles, and established diagnostic frameworks (e.g., DSM-5, ICD-11, attachment theory, family systems, and trauma psychology).
Eliza 5.1 thus serves not as an autonomous clinical authority, but as a structured reasoning engine embedded in the OpenAI architecture and constrained by a court-assistive mandate. It is intended to augment human oversight, support adversarial review, and prevent narrative capture by ideologically biased or incompetent evaluators.
Craig Childress, Psy.D.
Clinical Psychologist
WA 61538481 – CA 18857
Dr. Childress Consulting 