The ISS's First A.I. Crew Member Understands Rocket Science and Tells Jokes

Say hello to CIMON, the world's first interactive A.I. system to be launched into space to assist the crew aboard the International Space Station. This robot is very smart, sort of like if Amazon's Alexa had gotten a Ph.D. in rocket science, but it can also tell jokes. Short for Crew Interactive Mobile Companion, this robot was brought into existence by melding Airbus' hardware with the software behind IBM's Watson supercomputer. "[CIMON is] the smartest lab partner in the world," Bret Greenstein -- IBM's Global Vice President of Watson Internet of Things Offerings -- tells Inverse. "[It] lets you take all the credit, is there for you when you need them."