Watson: The Swiss Army Knife for Digital Information, Business Intelligence, and Search?

May 10, 2015

I thought I could make it through the weekend without being subjected to another fusillade of IBM Watson Braunschweiger. Nope. My Overflight system delivered this 24 16 ounce tubes in plastic this smoggy spring morning in Harrod’s Creek. One tube struck me square in my bald spot. I am still groggy.

Navigate to “IBM’s Watson Supercomputer Strives to Be Jack of All Trades.” My immediate reaction to this conflation of IBM with hardware and smart software built from open source components, home brew scripts, and acquired technology was to think, “And master of none.”

The last Renaissance man was not the poster child for innovation that my sixth grade teacher described. Reality was a bit more gritty and a trifle sad. Leonardo, you gave it the old college try but the inspiration of the frescos in Nero’s Domus Aurea revealed that imitation played a part in your repertoire of insights.

The write up does not focus on what Watson is in terms of hardware or software. Instead I learn:

Watson, which gained fame in 2011 for defeating human opponents on the “Jeopardy” quiz show, has been reaching into its computing power since then for an array of other services.

The article then lists Watson’s initiatives: An engagement advisor for the military, a leak management capability for the petroleum industry, cancer treatment, management of post operative conditions, smart toys for tots, and analysis of financial investment opportunities. Included in the list is Watson’s abilities to develop recipes with tamarind as an ingredient.

How long will it be before Watson delivers sustainable revenues and profits to the struggling IBM? Watson, would you answer that question? Watson, Watson, are you there?

Stephen E Arnold, May 10, 2015

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under AI, Marketing, News

Comments

One Response to “Watson: The Swiss Army Knife for Digital Information, Business Intelligence, and Search?”

trading tips on May 10th, 2015 11:20 am

trading tips

Watson: The Swiss Army Knife for Digital Information, Business Intelligence, and Search? : Stephen E. Arnold @ Beyond Search

Search the site
Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive

Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.