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A24 TECHNOLOGY
Saturday 23 November 2019
In a first, IBM's computer debater faces off against itself

By JAMES BROOKS ling narrative that will help
Associated Press the decision maker to take
CAMBRIDGE, England (AP) a better decision?" said
— The chamber hushed as lead scientist Noam Slonim.
the debate got underway The system had to iden-
at the Cambridge Union tify which side the crowd-
and the teams launched sourced contribution was
into their carefully crafted on, rank the best argu-
opening statements. ments, filter out spelling mis-
The topic - whether artificial takes and bad grammar,
intelligence would do more then present a persuasive
harm than good - was five-minute statement —
something each side had a a process IBM said took
big stake in because both about a minute.
were using the technology Potential applications for
to deliver their arguments. the technology include
Cambridge University, helping a company or gov-
home to the world's oldest ernment carry out surveys
debating society, was the or gather feedback from
setting Thursday night for a clients. The night wasn't to-
demonstration of what the tally devoid of humanity.
future might hold. IBM's Proj- In this photo taken on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019, audience members look on during a debate on Project Debater quipped,
ect Debater, a robot that the threat of artificial intelligence at the Cambridge Union, the world’s oldest debating society, "Let's move to an issue close
has already debated hu- Cambridge, England. to my artificial heart: tech-
mans, was for the first time Associated Press nology," drawing laughter
being pitted against itself, can only make decisions it into a two-meter-tall sleek ments, in a display of its lat- from the crowd.
at least in the first round. has been programmed for black monolith-like pillar. est advances. And then human debaters
Artificial intelligence "will and "it is not possible to pro- Audience members at the Unlike its earlier debate, took over in the rebuttal
not be able to make a de- gram for all scenarios, only society, which has hosted which relied on analyzing and closing rounds, while
cision that is the morally humans can."Then, the ma- notable figures including a huge trove of newspaper also jokingly dubbing the
correct one, because mo- chine switched sides, deliv- British Prime Minister Winston and magazine articles for computer "Debbie" and
rality is unique to humans," ering the opposing team's Churchill, the Dalai Lama, its replies, researchers this "Cybertronia the All-Know-
the computer system said argument. and Microsoft founder Bill time crowd-sourced con- ing."
in a synthetic and vaguely Artificial intelligence "will Gates over its 200-year his- tributions from 1,100 Cam- At the end of the night,
feminine voice. be a great advantage as it tory, were spellbound by its bridge students and fed audience members sided
"It cannot make moral de- will free up more time from first non-human guest. the answers to the com- with the argument that
cisions easily and can lead having to do mundane and After first pitting the tech- puter. artificial intelligence does
to disasters. AI can cause repetitive tasks," it said, its nology against a human They wanted to find out, more good than harm.
a lot of harm," it contin- voice embodied by a blue last year, IBM challenged it "Can you use the technol- Its future is assured, at least
ued. Artificial intelligence waveform on a screen set to present opposing argu- ogy to generate a compel- for now.q
U.S. regulators bar govt telecom funds for Huawei, ZTE

By TALI ARBEL was “cautiously optimistic” that there is no evidence
AP Technology Writer that the FCC’s approach it poses a security risk. The
U.S. communications regu- would let its companies company said it has been
lators have cut off govern- keep providing services to deemed a security threat
ment funding for equip- customers and give them “based on selective infor-
ment from two Chinese funding to replace any mation, innuendo, and
companies, citing security banned equipment. mistaken assumptions.”
threats. Huawei is the world’s big- It said that the FCC’s ac-
The Federal Communica- gest supplier of telecom tions will hurt connectivity
tions Commission also pro- gear as well as a major for rural Americans. ZTE did
posed requiring compa- cellphone manufacturer. not respond to requests for
nies that get government The U.S. government has comment Friday. ZTE has
subsidies to rip out any said that Huawei poses an also denied that China
equipment from Huawei In this Sept. 26, 2018, file photo, visitors walk beneath the logo espionage threat, but has uses its products for spying.
and ZTE that they already of Chinese technology firm ZTE at the PT Expo in Beijing. presented no evidence of A congressional report in
have in place. Associated Press its equipment being used 2012 labeled both Chinese
It’s the latest action by the companies, as larger U.S. small rural wireless carri- for spying by the Chinese companies as security
U.S. government against carriers do not use equip- ers has said that it would government. The U.S. has risks. Commissioner Jessica
Chinese tech and tele- ment from those Chinese cost up to $1 billion for its been pressuring allies to Rosenworcel, a Democrat,
com companies. companies. dozen companies to re- ban Huawei from their net- said the FCC’s move Fri-
The FCC voted unani- As for replacing existing place their Huawei and works and has restricted day was a good one, but
mously Friday to bar U.S. equipment, The FCC is ZTE equipment. It says that exports of U.S. technology took too long and did not
telecommunications pro- asking for comment on Huawei has 40 customers to Huawei, though numer- go far enough. She said
viders from using govern- how to help rural telecoms in the U.S. (Huawei is also ous loopholes have been there needs to be a “coor-
ment subsidies to buy financially. Bills in Congress a member of the trade exploited. dinated national plan” for
equipment from Huawei have proposed setting group, the Rural Wireless Huawei said in a statement securing next-generation
or ZTE. The FCC’s order $700 million to $1 billion Association.) Friday that the FCC order cellular networks, known
mostly affects small, rural aside. A trade group for The group said Friday that it is unlawful and reiterated as 5G.q