SEMC: Chatting with Benjamin Franklin

The Southeastern Museum Conference celebrated its 75th anniversary, and IK was excited to participate. Eric Veal and Erika Looney represented our team with a booth in the display hall, demonstrating our latest designs and innovations. Partnering with PMLC Studios, who were represented by Paul Clark, the IK team demonstrated “Talking Portraits: Benjamin Franklin.” Using an AI-generated digital “oil painting” of Benjamin Franklin, developed and trained by PMLC Studios, conference attendees interacted with “Ben,” asking questions and listening to his rapid responses. With a response time of 500 milliseconds, Ben leans into the “natural” part of natural language generation, helping his audience feel like they are really talking to someone and not listening to a machine generate answers. Ben is an example of a variety of applications that could be useful in a museum setting; he can be a museum guide or an interactive element in an exhibition, helping to engage and entertain visitors. 

Whether showcasing cutting-edge technology or making new friends, the IK team enjoyed connecting at SEMC with our museum colleagues, and we look forward to another 75 years of engagement.