I think this can be an ethical thing to do, provided some circumstances hold. Consider the sides to be S and T, then the circumstances are: 1. S are in the wro

I think this can be an ethical thing to do, provided some circumstances hold. Consider the sides to be S and T, then the circumstances are: 1. S are in the wrong 2. the debate matters, i.e. if S wins, bad things will happen (e.g. creationism will be taught in schools as science) 3. the chatbot will suck up more time from S than T (e.g. because T people are more likely to recognise it as being a chatbot). Note that each of these is likely to be true if another circumstance holds -- that S is composed of people on average less intelligent than T. Finally, what a delicious irony it would be if an evolutionarily programmed chatbot was written that succeeded in wasting the time of creationists!