Watson Gets Ink in the Bezos Newspaper

June 29, 2015

I read “The Human Upgrade: Watson’s Next Feat? Taking on Cancer.” The write up, which reminded me of an inclusion or sponsored content, states:

IBM’s computer brain is training alongside doctors to do what they can’t.

I am not exactly sure what this “do what they can’t” means, but the suggestion is that IBM Watson, which cannot generate significant revenue, can do something to ameliorate cancer.

Watson can put information together. Watson has written a cookbook. Then the write up startles with this statement:

But these feats were essentially gimmicks.

Gimmicks. No.

But now IBM Watson is not doing a gimmick:

The IBM program is one of several new aggressive health-care projects that aim to sift through the huge pools of data created by people’s records and daily routines and then identify patterns and connections to predict needs. It is a revolutionary approach to medicine and health care that is likely to have significant social, economic and political consequences.

Consequences like generating confusing or just plain wrong outputs? No way. This is IBM, the company which has declined in revenues for the last 36 months. IBM which spawns the often downright nasty commentary on Alliance@IBM. Impossible.

The write up summarizes some of the history of Watson. Omitted is the use of open source software to reduce certain costs. Left out is the mish mash of components which comprise Watson. Ignored are the human massage therapists essential to get information into Watson digestible form. Sidestepped are the computational requirements to build the index and then the tough problem of processing new or changed data in a timely manner so the outputs are not stale or outdated.

But Watson is evolving. Okay.

Like the Forrester professional who tosses around the word “revolution,” the write grabs this overinflated football.

Watson is a search and retrieval system. Watson adds layers upon layers of wrappers to impart value to outputs. IBM does not have a lock on smart software. What IBM does have is an ability to push the Watson story far and wide.

Does PR make a successful product? IBM obviously believes that marketing is the key to reversing Big Blue’s revenue challenges. IBM stakeholders may want to see some big contracts and zooming revenues. I know I do, and I am just a bystander deflecting PR flack in Harrod’s Creek.

Stephen E Arnold, June 29, 2015

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

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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.