LIVE DEBATE – IBM Project Debater

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Intelligence Squared Debates

At Intelligence Squared U.S., they have debated AI before – the risks, the rewards, and whether it can change the world – but for the first time, they have debated with AI. In partnership with IBM, Intelligence Squared U.S. has hosted a unique debate between a world-class champion debater and an AI system. IBM Project Debater is the first AI system designed to debate humans on complex topics using a combination of pioneering research developed by IBM researchers, including: data-driven speech writing and delivery, listening comprehension, and modeling human dilemmas. First debuted in a small closed-door event in June 2018, Project Debater has now faced its toughest opponent yet in front of its largest-ever audience, with John Donvan in the moderator’s seat. The topic was not revealed to Project Debater and the champion human debater until shortly before the debate began.

Watch the video below to see the full debate: 

IBM Debater lost the battle, but there’s no question it also had its victory: Listening to it, humans evaluate what it’s saying, not just that it’s a computer saying something. The machine knew its argument, broke it down and prioritized into a few points and backed them up with data from a vast array of literature – in seconds. It was on point in fact – but still (an maybe we humans should be happy about that) humans are better at persuasion.​​​​​​

If you want to know more about Project Debater, see this this link.