IBM's Robot Debater Takes on Humans...and May Change Some Minds
*By: Britt Terrell*
IBM Research conducted the first live debate between a human and a machine this week, showing off the company's latest development in artificial intelligence.
Project Debater squared off against two experts in rhetoric Monday night, responding to and delivering its own arguments. The technology, which ingests information from newspaper articles and other sources to put together well-structured speech and deliver a response, was even able to convince some audience members to change their minds.
"This is a great tool for helping educate the public," said Arvind Krishna, SVP & Director of IBM Research. "They could ask it a question, and 'Debater' can then look through and say, 'Look, based on everything I've read, here is an informed opinion on what everybody's thinking and saying.'"
When it comes to using the machine to help humans formulate opinions, though, especially in an age when fake news has run rampant on certain sites, Debater's powers could raises some concerns. But Krishna pointed out that humans are subject to the same pitfalls.
"What the Debater will do is it won't stick only to the fake news, it will give other \[opinions\], so you really get a complete and comprehensive \[response\]."
Debater is not the first example of high-functioning A.I. to come out of IBM. The company's Watson technology showed off against Jeopardy! champions in 2011, and its 'Deep Blue' program famously bested chess champion Garry Kasparov back in 1997.
But there is still work to be done on the Debater software. And while Krishna dismissed criticisms that its voice was too robotic ー Google, after all, drew jabs for its [all-too-human-sounding Duplex](https://cheddar.com/videos/was-googles-duplex-demo-real) ー he acknowledged some room for improvement.
"How do you throw humor in, when do you throw humor in?" he asked. "Like when it makes a joke like, 'If I had blood, my blood would boil, but I don't really have blood.'"
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/ibms-newest-a-i-project).
ORIGYN Foundation, an NFT authentication start-up based in Switzerland, has secured $20 million in funding from investors like Paris Hilton, Bill Ackman, and Polychain Capital, among others. The non-profit, now valued at $300 million, uses AI technology to verify non-fungible tokens across art, collectibles, digital media and luxury goods. Daniel Haudenschild, CEO of ORIGYN Entreprise, discusses how the money will help put power back into the hands of artists, creators, and collectors.
Michael S. Weinstein, chair of the white collar criminal defense practice at Cole Schotz, joined "Wake Up With Cheddar" to break down the defense's strategy to put Elizabeth Holmes on the stand in the former Theranos CEO's criminal fraud trial. "She's humanizing herself, and she's certainly coming off as they would want her to," he said. "I think what really is going to be interesting and really where the rubber meets the road is when the cross-examination commences, and they're able to pick apart her story and contrast what she's currently saying to what she previously said on multiple occasions in the last five to seven years."
Jill and Carlo are a bit delayed today on account of Carlo's internet not working. Better late than never, they discuss what we know about the suspect in the Christmas parade crash, closing arguments in the Arbery killing trial, and more.
A group of crypto enthusiasts pooled over $40 million dollars in an attempt to win a copy of the U.S. Constitution last week. However, their efforts came up short, as hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin emerged as the victor in a $43.2 million Sotheby's auction. Matt Cutler, CEO & Co-Founder of Blocknative, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he explains why ConstitutionDAO ultimately came up short.
Gparency, a company that says its mission is to revolutionize the commercial mortgage industry, raised $15 million in its first funding round - representing the largest ever seed round in the commercial real estate space. Gparency's service will allow landlords and real estate developers to receive funding directly from banks, without the need for a mortgage broker. The company says its new approach will give power back to the consumer. Gparency founder and CEO Ira Zlotowitz joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
