ibm's watson
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IBM’s Watson
Holland Davey, Jana Babouder-Matta, Chris Honeycutt, David Burr
Introduction
• Super Computer developed by IBM Research
• Named for IMB’s founder: Thomas J. Watson
• Initially created for Jeopardy! Game Show
• Dr. David Ferrucci leads the Watson project
Development
• Search engines deliver thousands of results that match keywords
• University’s have worked on a consistent question answering software for years
• Programmed by 25 IBM scientists
• Not connected to the internet
Jeopardy! Challenge
• Set out to answer complex Jeopardy! Questions
• Language is hard for computers because of “intended meaning”
• During trials, it won 70% of practice games
Jeopardy! Challenge
• February 2011: First computer to compete against humans in Jeopardy!
• Defeated shows greatest two champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter
Could YOU beat Watson?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpKoIfTukrA&feature=related
Purpose of Watson
• Idea formed during IBM top executives brainstorming publicity stunts
• Deep Blue– chess supercomputer defeated Garry Kasparov
• IBM’s previous most advanced machine was slow and inaccurate
• Overall goal: “to create a new generation of technology that can find answers from data more effectively than current search engines”
Technology
• Question-answering Technology
• Deep understanding of natural language.
– Process and answer complex questions that have puns, irony, and/or riddles
Technology
• Computer running Software called Deep QA
• Runs on cluster of Power 750 computers
– ten racks holding 90 servers, for a total of 2880 processor cores running DeepQA software and storage
– Holds approximately one million books worth of information
How does Watson answer a question?
The Process
Step 1
Step 1:
Question Analysis
The Process
Step 1 Step 2
Step 2:
Hypothesis Generation
The Process
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
Step 3:
Hypothesis and Evidence Scoring
The Process
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4
Step 4:
Final Merging and Ranking
This process takes a total of
3 Seconds
A little more in-depth
Watson’s Future
• Commercial Product
http://www-03.ibm.com/innovation/us/watson/what-is-watson/watson-after-jeopardy.html
Words from John Kelly, Director of IBM Research:“I want to create something that I can take into every other retail industry, in the transportation industry, you name it.”
“Any place where time is critical and you need to get advanced state-of-the-art information to the front decision-makers. Computers need to go from just being back-office calculating machines to improving the intelligence of people making decisions.”
Beyond Jeopardy
• Medical Assistant: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Partnership (March 2012)
– Clinicians will “teach” Watson to review oncological case histories and come up with best diagnosis and treatment
Managerial Purposes
• Financial Assistant: Working with Citi Bank
– Help analyze customer needs
– Process financial, economic, product, and client data
– Help financial professionals make better decision
• Could IBM Watson rival complex derivatives on the trade floor?
Other Possibilities?
• Travel
• Retail
• Healthcare
• Classroom
Advantages
• Provides Services that revolve around the new, digital world
• Gives immediate answers instead of search results
• Healthcare uses
– Diagnosis
– Information Warehouse
• Efficiency and Organization
Disadvantages
• Cannot read PET and CT scans to identify tumors
• Questions asked must be in text
• Less human effort
– Too reliant upon technology
– Less personal interaction between doctors and patients
• Not cognitive
– Only manipulates symbols
• Limits understanding and reasoning behind decisions
Competition
• Thus far there are no other computers that are near the performance level of Watson
• Microsoft and GE announced plans to create something similar to use in the healthcare industry
– Aim to use analytics, high performance software technologies to deliver patient outcomes and clinical applications
Applications to SIT
• New technology for a business’ Decision Making Processes
– Organizational structure may shift based on allocation of decision making
• Potentially eliminates the needs/advantages of Virtual Teams (especially in healthcare)
• Changes Knowledge Management Processes
Discussion Question #1
• What do you think about the future of this product, and the potential to have a super computer with voice recognition software? Could this lead to an iRobot/personal assistant?
Discussion Question #2
• Could this eliminate the use for the education system all together?
Discussion Question #3
• If you were a manager at a business, would you trust using Watson with decision making, or do you feel human decision making still is a more reliable source?