We’re currently living in an age of technology where artificial intelligence is being born. As AI becomes more mainstream, we’ll have it doing everything for us, from recognizing objects in our environment, to making video games, to running our homes. The next challenge from the XPRIZE foundation, an organization built around promoting breakthrough technology, is for an AI to give a TED Talk.
If you’re not familiar with TED Talks, they’re a series of mini-conferences given by experts in a variety of fascinating fields, generally based around working with great ideas. The talks are not just informative, but also engaging and often inspiring.
For XPRIZE’s competition, the AI must meet one condition: after completing its speech, it must receive a standing ovation. So not only does the AI have to speak, but it has to speak well, and do it in a way that is both inspiring and entertaining to humans, which is a huge feat for a set of computer algorithms. Also, no human assistance is allowed at any time: the AI has to do all the work.
Other rules are currently flexible, being decided upon by us, the humans. In fact, XPRIZE is looking for our feedback on things such as what kind of AI should be allowed to give a talk (should it be some sort of physical robot or a disembodied voice?), what the topic should be, how long the speech will run, and even how large the grand prize is.