IBM's Watson computer proved last month that it is a trivia master. In a Jeopardy competition watched live by millions on national TV it destroyed Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, the two top Jeopardy champions of all time. Unfortunately, judging from blog posts and comments on Internet news sites, many of the viewers completely missed the significance of the event.
Two typical comments posted to CNN are as follows:
"I think the only thing this challenge proves is that the computer is faster at ringing in than Brad or Ken, not smarter," posted Tate Hinkle on Jeopardy's Facebook fan page.
"Great, you have a multimillion dollar supercomputer that is really good at trivia, now what?" said one CNN.com commenter.
Jeopardy Champions Must Command Detailed Knowledge on a Wide Range of Subjects
Winning at Jeopardy was a goal set by the IBM research team for good reason. Jeopardy may be a game based upon one's knowledge of trivia, but to win one must have extensive detailed knowledge of an incredible range of categories as well as an impressive command of the English language. Natural language processing is a difficult computing problem even without Jeopardy questions which are often witty, contain puns, and frequently have double meanings.
Watson Demonstrates Advanced Skills at Processing Language
For Watson to win at Jeopardy means that the IBM research team has developed for Watson advanced skills at processing language. This is one of the most important goals of the IBM Watson research team, not simply storing away data that can be regurgitated by asking questions that are formatted in an exact manner. The research team has developed Watson to the point of it being able to reliably understand the questions that are being asked and then to quickly search its extensive database and assign probabilities to the response that is most likely to be correct. Watson has an astounding 15 terabytes of RAM to aid in the process of selecting the correct response. While Watson is not yet perfect, as displayed on Jeopardy, it is one smart machine.
Interview with IBM Researcher Dr. Jennifer Chu-Carroll Reveals Watson's Immediate Future
I was privileged today to interview Dr.Jennifer Chu-Carroll, one of the bright members of the IBM Watson research team. According to Dr. Chu-Carroll, the Watson computer occupies only 10 server racks, which would be the size of of about 10 large refrigerators. This is a much smaller space than I had envisioned and demonstrates advances in computer technology over the past few years.
Dr. Chu-Carroll states that while winning at Jeopardy was a fun project for the research team to focus on, the field of medical technology has been selected as the first field to benefit from Watson's strengths. In the field of medicine, new drugs, equipment, and procedures are constantly being developed and deployed somewhere in the world. There is a tremendous body of research published each year. Then there are patient's medical histories by the multi millions that must be properly updated, maintained, and readily available to the patient's doctor. Modern medical technology is an extremely complicated rapidly advancing field that is difficult for even the most dedicated doctor to stay current in.
Dr.Chu-Carroll points out that Watson's strengths of language skills, database storage capacity, and nearly instantaneous retrieval of pertinent information, mesh well with the medical field's rigorous requirements. Jennifer stresses that Watson will not in any way replace the patient's doctor, but would in effect become the doctor's right hand assistant and offer a nearly instantaneous second opinion.
With language recognition software Watson would interpret the patient's symptoms and provide recommendations for treatment along with identifying supporting sources from the latest medical literature, drug profiles, and patient's records. Watson could then refine and confirm the initial diagnosis and recommendations by taking doctor's follow-up questions into consideration.
Watson's Artificial Intelligence Will Help Mankind Solve Complex Problems
IBM's Watson computer is indeed being developed to master much more important endeavors than winning trivia games. Some humans may feel threatened as Watson's intelligence is further developed and may exceed their own. However, there is nothing to fear from super smart machines as long as they are used for peaceful purposes. Artificial intelligence, as displayed by the Watson computer, is being developed to help mankind live more productive healthy lives and to better solve complex problems. When used wisely supercomputers will enhance human life and lead to more successful civilizations.
In the end, the peaceful use of artificial intelligence and super-smart computers like Watson will demonstrate the intelligence of the human mind, not detract from it. After using the trivia game of Jeopardy as a test bed IBM has chosen wisely in its selection of medical technology as the focus for the utilization of Watson's formidable abilities.
You can read more about Watson's victory at Suite101: "IBM's Watson Computer Jeopardy Champ Destroys Humans"
Gerald Greene - Technology may save the world but it is a hard task master. It takes increasing amounts of work to keep up with the latest and greatest.
Join the Conversation