Today, IBM unveiled details of an “advanced” artificial
intelligence computing system that will be able to compete with humans on
Jeopardy!, America’s favorite quiz show. It comes as no surprise that the
company’s highly trained engineers believe its creation will be able to
understand the complexity of a human Q&A session.
The AI system, codenamed Watson, has been under development
in IBM laboratories for nearly two years with a focus on being able to deftly
handle semantics, or the meanings behind words. But with a development like this
comes the sophistication and capability of understanding and computing word analogies,
puns, double entendres and relationships like size and location. In addition, Watson
will compute a statistical confidence in the responses it provides, and IBM
claims that it can “do all of this in a matter of seconds.”
“The essence of making decisions is recognizing patterns in
vast amounts of data, sorting through choices and options, and responding
quickly and accurately,” said Samuel J. Palmisano, IBM Chairman, President and
Chief Executive Officer. “Watson is a compelling example of how the planet –
companies, industries, cities – is becoming smarter. With advanced computing
power and deep analytics, we can infuse business and societal systems with
intelligence. This project is the latest example of IBM’s longstanding
commitment to fundamental research and to overcoming ‘grand challenges’ in
science and technology.”
All in all, it’s most important to remember that Watson will
be competing against the highest level of unsurpassed, massively parallel computing
architecture – the human mind – well, at least the folks on the show.
The official date of the Jeopardy! showdown is yet to be
announced, but we will definitely be keeping our DVRs on standby.
More here.
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Mankind takes on IBM's Watson in ?Jeopardy!?
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