Now the Computer Can Argue With You

"Fighting technology means fighting human ingenuity," an IBM software program admonished Israeli debating champion Dan Zafrir in San Francisco Monday. The program, dubbed Project Debater, and Zafrir, were debating the value of telemedicine, but the point could also apply to the future of the technology itself. Software that processes speech and language has improved enough to do more than tell you the weather forecast. You may not be ready for machines capable of conversation or arguing, but tech companies are working to find uses for them. IBM's demo of Project Debater comes a month after Google released audio of a bot called Duplex booking restaurants and haircuts over the phone.