Should America's cities be lit by direct current or by alternating current?
Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla
1888. Electric light is spreading street by street, and the two systems are fighting for every city.
Moderate this debate out loud in the Yuga app.
Thomas Edison
Thomas EdisonInventor who developed the practical incandescent lamp1847–1931Running his new laboratory at West Orange, and campaigning against high-voltage alternating current.
Their position, as they argued it
Direct current: low voltage, safe in the home and already proven; high-voltage alternating current kills, and will kill linemen and customers.
Nikola Tesla
Nikola TeslaInventor who lit the world with alternating current1856–1943Has just lectured on his polyphase system and licensed his patents to George Westinghouse.
Their position, as they argued it
Alternating current: it can be raised to a high voltage, sent over long distances and lowered again, so one station can light a whole region, and his polyphase motor runs on it.
Where this is documented
Edison Electric Light Company, 'A Warning' (1888); Tesla's lecture to the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (May 1888)
In the app, each figure argues from their own writing and the historical record, and every turn shows whether it quotes them or reasons in their spirit. The figures are AI recreations, not the people themselves.