IBM Debater
Giving IBM's AI debater stage presence
The IBM Debating Technologies Team developed Project Debater - the first AI system to successfully debate with a human. In February 2019, Project Debater debated Mr. Harish Natarajan, one of the world's leading professional debaters in an event held in San Francisco and broadcasted live worldwide.
My team got pulled in to help give the new AI stage presence without feeling uncanny. As the design technologist, I worked as the glue between the IBM Debater team in IBM Research Haifa and Perception, an external consultancy firm. We guided the execution of the Perception team, and I personally was accountable and responsible for the design and development for all screens shown on stage: the debater avatar and the background, supporting screens.
The response was swift and congratulatory. Within days, Project Debater was featured in over 209 news outlets, including the likes of:
- The New York Times
- USA Today
- Fortune
- AP News
- NPR
- CNET
- MIT Technology Review
With CNET saying:
“We saw computers beat humans at chess in 1997, beat humans at Jeopardy in 2011, and vanquish the world's best human players of the ancient game of Go in 2017. On Monday, a computer edged out a victory over people in a far more nuanced competition: debate.”
Final Deliverables
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I found it fascinating how subtle the difference was between uncanny, unmoving, and unassuming.
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Let's talk details.
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