In Star Wars Insider #35 from Fall 1997, there's an interview with George Lucas who discusses the state of Episode I at that time.

This interview is notable because we get the first indication that the significant CG character that had been mentioned in previous interviews is going to be portrayed by Ahmed Best. Still no mention of what that character's name is yet, but in retrospect, we can assume that the character in question is most likely Jar Jar Binks. Check out the relevant part of the interview below.