Weakly Watson: Real Journalists May Be Remaindered
June 25, 2016
That IBM Watson is a versatile confection. I read “IBM’s Watson Tries Its Hand at Editing a Magazine.” Not only does software have a hand, the software is androgynous. In IBM’s quest for revenue and perceived leadership in smart software, the company has targeted journalism as a field of dreams.
The write up reports:
The Drum, a marketing site and publication, apparently allowed Watson to edit the latest issue of its magazine, effectively benching the human editor for an AI (at least in some respects).
I learned:
IBM’s David Kenny commented: “Right now AI is more about people querying machines. My dream is that Watson will ask us questions, giving computers abductive rather than deductive reasoning skills. Abductive reasoning will lead to conversation and dialogue with humans. “And that in turn will lead to more creative thinking, because machine learning means cognitive computing systems will become smarter over time on their own. We’re on that path now, but much work is ahead of us.”
“Abductive” means, I think, moving from an observation via a training set to a theory which accounts for the observation. I recall that Autonomy’s digital reasoning engine used a somewhat similar method in — when was it — about 1996.
Now about those revenues? Would IBM Watson evidence snappier performance if it were running on the world’s fastest supercomputers from China? Just asking. There are those computational issues and, in addition, the need for human ministration of the IBM Watson system.
Stephen E Arnold, June 25, 2015
IBM Watson: Me Too, Me Too with Olli Smart Transport
June 21, 2016
I read “IBM’s Watson AI Powers IoT Services In Self-Driven Mini Bus.” Lots of outfits are pushing the self driving vehicle. Why is the news that IBM has Olli, a smart bus thing not too surprising? IBM Watson can do anything those upstarts can do, that’s why. IBM is the cognitive king.
The write up states:
IBM today announced that Watson, its AI platform, will be powering a range of services in a new self-driving bus concept named Olli. Designed by Local Motors, Olli is electric-powered, caries up to 12 people and will start operating in Washington DC…
Yep, DC, the city which has distinguished itself with excellent management of its existing subway system. My recollection is that riders have an opportunity to be trapped underground when parts of the electrical subsystem burst into flames. Exciting.
Olli will be above ground. That’s one Metro problem solved. The write up asserts:
Local Motor’s Olli will be the world’s first self-driven public transportation vehicle and will benefit from four APIs that will come with Watson, namely Speech to Text, Natural Language Classifier, Entity Extraction and Text to Speech. Olli will be riddled with a number of Watson-enabled sensors using which it will be able to perform a range of functions like interacting with commuters about routes and destinations as well as analyzing transportation data. It will also be able to help passengers with information about local landmarks and will also offer suggestions on nearby restaurants…
Sounds great, but then so did the Metro.
Stephen E Arnold, June 21, 2016
IBM Watson: Factoids and Perfect Haikus
June 18, 2016
I read “AI Will “Help Humans Make Better Decisions” Says IBM Watson General Manager.” I like it when smart software improves human decision making. Wait. If the software were able to help humans, wouldn’t IBM be the dominant company in artificial intelligence. Amazon, Facebook, Google, and the others in the AI game would be sucking wind and reporting financial headwinds? Hmmm. IBM seems to be the leader in AI talk and a bit of a laggard in the revenues department.
Here’s a factoid:
Watson can understand data at astonishing speeds and volumes. In fact, it reads 800 million pages per second. It can reason to form hypotheses, make considered arguments and prioritize recommendations to help humans make decisions.
Now that is an impressive number. I want to ask, “What is a page?” and “What happens when a page consists of an image and a table of data?” 800 million. Zippy indeed. Compared to what and at what cost for computing infrastructure?
And again with the factoid:
[IBM Watson] programmers trained InkWell with Watson’s Tone Analyzer and Personality Insights to analyze the words for emotion, word selection, personality and tone. The result is a perfect haiku that conveys emotion and tone, demonstrating how a cognitive system can understand language beyond statistics.
Does IBM Watson’s perfect haiku take this form?
What about the work of Basho, Buson, Shiki, and Issa. Consider this translation of Issa’s haiku:
The wren
Earns his living
Noiselessly.
Watson should be, in my opinion, able to answer the question, “How does IBM grow its revenues?” Issa might think of a run away horse. Is that whirring I hear the sound of Issa’s ducks quacking. Noiselessly, not likely. Weakly sounds the IBM marketing howls.
Stephen E Arnold, June 18, 2016
Weakly Watson: A Smart Hat
June 14, 2016
I am not making this up. Navigate to “A Dad Made a Real-Life ‘Harry Potter’ Sorting Hat Using IBM’s Watson — Here’s How It Works.” Lucky kids. I bet everyone in their school understands the importance of IBM Watson. And the fashion. Stellar. I would reproduce a photo of the IBM Watson hat, but I am fearful that [a] a legal eagle would swoop upon me and [b] my gentle readers would think I photoshopped the image.
According to the write up:
The hat works simply enough. You place it on your head (that part is actually for fun, you could just talk to it) and tell the sorting hat a few things about yourself so it can sort you appropriately.
And Watson:
But running on the Natural Language Classifyer [sic] language alone would have forced users to describe themselves over written text. And we all know that’s not how the real sorting hat works! So Anderson also used Watson’s Speech to Text feature so you can speak to the hat.
You will find more details at this link. I want to reiterate that I am quite impressed. The lucky children will be the talk of anyone who sees them wearing this gizmo.
IBM Watson. More than recipes.
Stephen E Arnold, June 14, 2016
The Unknown Future of Google Cloud Platform
June 10, 2016
While many may have the perception Google dominates in many business sectors, a recent graph published shows a different story when it comes to cloud computing. Datamation released a story, Why Google Will Dominate Cloud Computing, which shows Google’s position in fourth. Amazon, Microsoft and IBM are above the search giant in cloud infrastructure services when looking at the fourth quarter market share and revenue growth for 2015. The article explains why Google appears to be struggling,
“Yet as impressive as its tech prowess is, GCP’s ability to cater to the prosaic needs of enterprise cloud customers has been limited, even fumbling. Google has always focused more on selling its own services rather than hosting legacy applications, but these legacy apps are the engine that drives business. Remarkably, GCP customers don’t get support for Oracle software, as they do on Amazon Web Services. Alas, catering to the needs of enterprise clients isn’t about deep genius – it’s about working with others. GCP has been like the high school student with straight A’s and perfect SAT scores that somehow doesn’t have too many friends.”
Despite the current situation, the article hypothesizes Google Cloud Platform may have an edge in the long-term. This is quite a bold prediction. We wonder if Datamation may approach the goog to sell some ads. Probably not, as real journalists do not seek money, right?
Megan Feil, June 10, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Weakly Watson: Unusual Watson Applications
June 9, 2016
The change in leadership at IBM Watson is a bit like the weather. One does not know how the weekend will turn out. I read “5 Unusual Things You Can Do with IBM’s Watson.” I must admit that I have missed the full page ads with weird made up chemical symbols suggesting Watson’s combinatorial magic. I also have missed the “Watson cures cancer” write ups. I always wonder how that project is coming along.
In the unusual write up, I noted the five things; to wit:
- Create a “custom” order for granola.
- Shop for clothes.
- Find a bottle of wine. [Shades of Endeca’s long standing example!]
- Ask health questions. [When I worked at Ziff in the 1990s, we had a health reference center which performed the same trick. Libraries loved the system. Doctors, not so much.]
- Check into a Hilton and ask about bus routes. [Uber, anyone?]
My hunch is that IBM wants to make darned certain it is in the race for smart software. Okay, IBM Watson with its open source technology, home brew scripts, and acquired technology is really big in artificial intelligence. I give up already.
Custom granola? A slam dunk. Help me shop for clothes? My wife may have some thoughts about that. These five items comprise compelling use cases for someone I assume. Oh, when I check into a hotel, I think Uber, not bus routes. Ever try to take a bus in Xian, China?
Stephen E Arnold, June 3, 2016
Watson Does Cyber Security
May 10, 2016
I heard a rumor that Palantir Technologies has turned down the volume on its cybersecurity initiative. I was interested to learn that IBM is jumping into this niche following the lead of its four star general Thomas “Weakly” Watson.
According to “IBM’s Watson Is Going to Cybersecurity School,” General Watson “announced a new year-long research project through which it will collaborate with eight universities to help train its Watson artificial-intelligence system to tackle cybercrime.”
A number of capable outfits are attacking this market sector. Instead of buying a high octane outfit, I learned:
This fall, it will begin working with students at universities including California State Polytechnic University at Pomona, Penn State, MIT, New York University and the University of Maryland at Baltimore County along with Canada’s universities of New Brunswick, Ottawa and Waterloo.
Never give up. Forward, march.
Stephen E Arnold, May 10, 2016
Artificial Intelligence Spreading to More Industries
May 10, 2016
According to MIT Technology Review, it has finally happened. No longer is artificial intelligence the purview of data wonks alone— “AI Hits the Mainstream,” they declare. Targeted AI software is now being created for fields from insurance to manufacturing to health care. Reporter Nanette Byrnes is curious to see how commercialization will affect artificial intelligence, as well as how this technology will change different industries.
What about the current state of the AI field? Byrnes writes:
“Today the industry selling AI software and services remains a small one. Dave Schubmehl, research director at IDC, calculates that sales for all companies selling cognitive software platforms —excluding companies like Google and Facebook, which do research for their own use—added up to $1 billion last year. He predicts that by 2020 that number will exceed $10 billion. Other than a few large players like IBM and Palantir Technologies, AI remains a market of startups: 2,600 companies, by Bloomberg’s count. That’s because despite rapid progress in the technologies collectively known as artificial intelligence—pattern recognition, natural language processing, image recognition, and hypothesis generation, among others—there still remains a long way to go.”
The article examines ways some companies are already using artificial intelligence. For example, insurance and financial firm USAA is investigating its use to prevent identity theft, while GE is now using it to detect damage to its airplanes’ engine blades. Byrnes also points to MyFitnessPal, Under Armor’s extremely successful diet and exercise tracking app. Through a deal with IBM, Under Armor is blending data from that site with outside research to help better target potential consumers.
The article wraps up by reassuring us that, despite science fiction assertions to the contrary, machine learning will always require human guidance. If you doubt, consider recent events—Google’s self-driving car’s errant lane change and Microsoft’s racist chatbot. It is clear the kids still need us, at least for now.
Cynthia Murrell, April 10, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
IBM Uses Watson Analytics Freebie Academic Program to Lure in Student Data Scientists
May 6, 2016
The article on eWeek titled IBM Expands Watson Analytics Program, Creates Citizen Data Scientists zooms in on the expansion of the IBM Watson Analytics academic program, which was begun last year at 400 global universities. The next phase, according to Watson Analytics public sector manager Randy Messina, is to get Watson Analytics into the hands of students beyond computer science or technical courses. The article explains,
“Other examples of universities using Watson Analytics include the University of Connecticut, which is incorporating Watson Analytics into several of its MBA courses. Northwestern University is building Watson Analytics into the curriculum of its Predictive Analytics, Marketing Mix Models and Entertainment Marketing classes. And at the University of Memphis Fogelman College of Business and Economics, undergraduate students are using Watson Analytics as part of their initial introduction to business analytics.”
Urban planning, marketing, and health care disciplines have also ushered in Watson Analytics for classroom use. Great, so students and professors get to use and learn through this advanced and intuitive platform. But that is where it gets a little shady. IBM is also interested in winning over these students and leading them into the data analytics field. Nothing wrong with that given the shortage of data scientists, but considering the free program and the creepy language IBM uses like “capturing mindshare among young people,” one gets the urge to warn these students to run away from the strange Watson guy, or at least proceed with caution into his lair.
Chelsea Kerwin, May 6, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
IBM: Revenue Continues to Decline
May 2, 2016
I understand the appeal of marketing. Sitting in a room with bright young people, conjuring images of “to be” products, and using Excel’s built in functions to build revenue confections—the sport of MBAs.
I read “IBM Reports Worst Revenue In 14 Years, Shares Slide.” I know I have highlighting the antics of the IBM Watson unit. How can I ignore a TV game show win, a recipe book, and assorted partnerships designed to make IBM the money machine it was in years of yore?
Right here in my office I operated the Threat Open Source Intelligence Gateway on IBM servers. I recall with fondness the eight drive DASDs, the multiple CPUs, and the redundant power supplies. I bought my Movin Cool Classic 14 to knock the room temperature to a pleasant 70 degrees. Ah, the noise. Ah, the joy of a $750 minimum roll charge when the Serveraid software nuked a SCSI set up. I loved IBM.
The shift at the company has done little to renew my faith in the firm’s ability to generate solid revenue and a bounty for stakeholders. I learned in the write up:
International Business Machines Corp reported its worst quarterly revenue in 14 years as results from newer businesses including cloud and mobile computing failed to offset declines in its traditional businesses, sending shares down nearly 5 percent in extended trading. Revenue of the world’s largest technology services company fell 4.6 percent to $18.68 billion in the first quarter, but beat analysts’ average estimate of $18.29 billion. It was the 16th straight quarter of revenue decline for IBM.
Yep, 16 consecutive quarters of revenue decline.
Seems like a trend. What is clear is that the company will continue to promote products and services which have yet to have a significant impact on IBM revenues. What if IBM has asked its “cognitive” system Watson what to do? What if IBM is implementing IBM Watson’s ideas? What if IBM Watson does not work? Will IBM marketers will respond with more partnerships and cook books.
Stephen E Arnold, May 2, 2016
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