Over a billion hits on Google for “articles on technology” proves we wax lyrical about how man sees machine. But how does machine see man? More truthfully than humans, it would appear. Watson uncovered unknown, unexpected truths about seven of the world's most profound (and widely storied) thinkers. He discovered Marie Curie was a mother first and a Nobel Laureate second. Eleanor Roosevelt’s love sounded a lot like noughties pop songs. Josephine Baker, “the world’s most sensational woman,” was the picture of an introvert, and Darwin’s love of board-games was anything but coincidence. Thomas Watson channeled the world’s most famous 60s band – formed after his death. Watson inspired artists to create the most truthful portraits of these thinkers that have ever existed. And he went one step further, conversing with exhibit-goers in a cognitive photo booth to reveal an unexpected truth about the thinker they know best: themselves.

A conversation with Watson (he asks you who your best friend was growing up, which artist you favor, and what you wanted to be when you grow up) gives him everything he needs to tell us something unexpected about ourselves. Using the Tone Analyzer API, Watson measures where you fall in the wider universe against five personality traits, by analyzing your answers based on word choice and grouping. He captures your photo as the basis, but uses your personality scores, visualized through five custom emojis, as the composition to generate your portrait. Each emoji was designed to personify one of the big five personality traits, their quirky and unassuming design reinforcing Watson’s personality. The presence of any given emoji corresponds to your ranking for that personality trait. Watson’s portrait of you was then printed, making each exhibit-goer part of the exhibit, and giving them a part of the exhibit to

1. In the first two weeks, over 5,000 visitors to the exhibit, 300,000 social engagements, and countless press features including Mashable, Fast Company, NY Magazine and Engadget. Many tastemakers asked if the art could reside at other universities, galleries and museums next.

2. Over 1,000 posters were created, and tastemakers were content to wait up to two hours to talk to Watson. A group notoriously difficult to reach with traditional advertising channels eagerly took home a piece of IBM’s brand.

3. Watson’s data analysis inspired emotional, human reactions: “A guy finished watching/listening to the Eleanor Roosevelt piece, he took off his headphones and turned to me, with tears streaming down his face with comments about how beautiful it was”– photo booth attendant, on an exhibit-goer.