The new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota is opening this weekend with an AI version of America's 26th president.
Housed in a permanent exhibit, the AI experience is a partnership between AI lab LemonSlice, Microsoft and the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.
It allows visitors to stand in front of a life-size Teddy Roosevelt avatar, ask him questions out load, and hear him answer in his own words.
Conversations with the avatar feel "fluid, expressive, and immediate", LemonSlice said in a press release.
President Donald Trump was one of the first visitors to experience the AI avatar on 1 July.
"This exhibit is a powerful way to connect a new generation with his life and legacy by allowing visitors to talk to a digital version of Roosevelt face-to-face," said Matt Briney, chief communications officer at the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.
Laura Hoffman, senior director at Microsoft's AI for Good Lab, said: "It's incredible to see people talk with President Roosevelt and not just read about him.
"Because of AI, no two conversations are the same, and Roosevelt's wit often brings a huge smile to their faces. This is a completely new way to engage with history."
At the core of the experience is LemonSlice's interactive avatar technology, as well as an emerging category of interactive video.
The brains of the Teddy Roosevelt avatar are powered by Azure's Conversational AI platform, and trained on hundreds of thousands of documents relating to the former president.
"Bringing one of history's most vivid figures into a live conversation is exactly why we built this technology," said Lina Colucci, co-founder and CEO of LemonSlice.
"We want to make the past feel present, because the best way to learn from history is to engage with it, not just read about it."
The $450 million Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, designed by architecture firm Snøhetta, opens on 4 July to coincide with America's 250th anniversary.
Electrosonic and RLMG worked on the project.
