Or, if you want a more hands-on or classical/vintage approach as a starting point, you may want to have a look at ELIZA.

However, I remember claimed quotes from Weizenbaum that, while most people perceived ELIZA as a startling example of AI, he actually wrote it to disprove the possibility of AI. There's no reference to that in the Wikipedia article, though, but there may be one behind the citation links (didn't check them). ... or it's just one more of these funny urban legends...