Museum visitors can now talk to artificial intelligence and get real-time answers about the artwork they are viewing.

IBM Watson has launched an interactive guide developed with Ogilvy Brazil that allows for speech recognition as visitors view art at Brazil's Pinacoteca de São Paulo Museum.

The new AI program creates an alternative to pre-recorded audio tours or the need for staffing with human guides. Equipped with headphones and a smartphone loaded with the app, visitors can walk around and talk to art.

“The Voice of Art” at the museum is a Watson-powered program that culls data from books, newspapers, articles, biographies, interviews and the internet to answer questions from viewers as they browse through galleries. It took 6 months to develop.

In a country where 72% of people have never visited a museum, the program is already increasing attendance at Pinacoteca.