What Star Wars' C-3PO Can Teach Us About The Future Of AI

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" came in strong at the box office this holiday season, bringing around $1 billion worldwide to date since its mid-December release, along with an array of campaigns dedicated to celebrating the classic sci-fi series. IBM Watson decided to get in on the fun too, with their "Science and Star Wars" series hosted on the official Star Wars YouTube channel. The series features nine different episodes (a nod to the nine main Star Wars films, perhaps?) that focus on different ways real-life technology collides with some of the iconic series' most beloved gadgets, heroes and themes. There's lightsabers, droids, a study on "The Force" and, what caught our eye -- a closer look at C-3P0, artificial intelligence, and customer experience. For those not familiar with C-3P0, he's what's called a "protocol droid," and companion to trusty sidekick R2-D2. Though articulate, C-3PO's robotic body limits his range of inflection and physical motion that are, as IBM Fellow Dr. John R. Smith says, important indicators when assessing natural of human interaction.