Watson: Who Is Intu You?

November 18, 2016

I read “IBM Launches Project Intu for Embodied Cognition.” When I saw the word “Intu”, my mind began generating referents for the “intu” reference. These included:

The 2009 film “He’s Just Not That Into You.” This is the story about a woman seeking her prince charming. The film is a comedy.
The 2006 book “He’s Just Not That Into You: The No Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys,” which is available in a newly expanded edition. Amazon it here.
Lil’ Mo’s “Just Not That Into You,” one of our favorite tunes in Harrod’s Creek when we have old time hoedowns. Yee haw.

But these thoughts of the arts are not directly germane to the Intu system for embodied cognition. The write up explains:

IBM launched the experimental release of its Project Intu, a new system-agnostic platform designed to enable embodied cognition. Embodied cognition is the application of artificial intelligence to form factors, such as robots, devices or other objects.

Embodied cognition is putting artificial intelligence in the physical world. Examples include robots.

The write up quotes an IBM wizard as saying:

IBM is taking cognitive technology beyond a physical technology interface like a smartphone or a robot toward an even more natural form of human and machine interaction. Project Intu allows users to build embodied systems that reason, learn and interact with humans to create a presence with the people that use them—these cognitive-enabled avatars and devices could transform industries like retail, elder care, and industrial and social robotics.

The write up includes some philosophical ideas as well; for example:

One maven suggests that Intu is “after a different sort of game.” The maven opines, “If IBM’s Project Intu succeeds, it could go a long way toward normalizing IoT [Internet of Things] use cases.” Yes, normalize, which I don’t understand to be candid.

Another IBM poobah says:

“Our philosophy at IBM is to put our technology in the hands of developers, because for every good idea we have, we know they’re thinking up thousands more.”

My view of IBM Watson is that I think I love Google DeepMind. So Watson, as Mary asks in “He’s Just Not That Into You”:

What if you meet the love of your life, but you already married somebody else, are you supposed to let them pass you by?

For some, the answer is, “Yes, Mary. Let them pass on by.” Hey, another song for me to get Intu, Pass on By by Kelly Hogan.

Stephen E Arnold, November 18, 2016

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under AI, IBM Watson, 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.