The latest announcement from XPrize sounds even more like science fiction than most. The roster of 147 teams selected for the IBM Watson AI XPrize was announced Wednesday, representing private and corporate ventures to solve human problems with artificial intelligence. Projects can propose fixes in space, within civil structures and government, or within the realms of health and wellness or education.
The winners of the four-year competition will receive $5 million split between first, second, and third-place winners.
Participants have been working on their pitches since the competition launched in 2016, with a deadline of March 1, 2017 for the detailed development and testing plans. These teams and projects came from all over the world, including the one2tribe motivational app from Poland and the Dimond High School Engineering Xprize team from Anchorage, Alaska.
Now that the teams have been chosen to go on to the next step, they will have until Sept. 1 to submit a progress report showing meaningful advancement on their chosen project.
“This XPRIZE competition ignited an impressive number of teams from all over the globe, and we look forward to seeing how they will push AI and cognitive computing towards new innovations that solve problems across industries and demonstrate how AI can be used as a tool for good,” says Amir Banifatemi, prize lead for the IBM Watson AI XPRIZE.
If you’re interested in the competition but haven’t gotten a team together yet, there’s still time. The “Wild Card” round held from Aug. 1 to Dec. 1 is open to new teams that submit a groundbreaking development and testing plan.
The winners will be announced after in-person and online audience voting during the TED event in 2020. More information is available here.
Filed Under: M2M (machine to machine)
