It appears that a human is still better in debates in trying to convince an audience of humans as to the merits of subsidizing preschools to address poverty in the US.
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/m/7676469b-60c6-30cc-8f3d-16de69985b3c/ss_ibm-ai-fails-to-beat-human.html https://www.yahoo.com/tech/m/7676469b-60c6-30cc-8f3d-16de69985b3c/ss_ibm-ai-fails-to-beat-human.html But the victory may be illusory as the IBM AI will try to improve its skill of using human language to persuade others. The next debate could be much tougher for the human debater to win.