IBM's got a computer that'll take on your debate team and maybe win. It's a new frontier for AI

IBM presents its Project Debater on stage as a black obelisk with a screen for a face. A passive blue oval shows when it's idling, but animated blue circles move around as it's processing speeches or listening to a debate opponent. 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. IBM created a system called Project Debater that competes in what the company calls computational argumentation -- knowing a subject, presenting a position and defending it against opposition.