IBM (The Great Innovator) Tells India: You Are Not Innovative
May 22, 2017
I don’t know much about India. I have interacted with a handful of Indian entrepreneurs over the years. I owned a bit of a company set up and managed by a fellow from India. He struck me as bright and, I suppose, the word “innovative” suits him. I also spent a little time with the entrepreneur who created Aglaya. This is an outfit which has some technology which struck me as innovative if you think performing wireless intercepts when a person of interest is going about their daily routine innovative. I have had other bump ups over the last 40 years. These ranged from bright nuclear engineers at Halliburton Nuclear to chipper MBAS with good idea when I worked at the fun factory Booz, Allen & Hamilton to the assorted engineers I encountered in my other work.
To sum up, Indian engineers are not much different from engineers from other countries. I assume that parental guidance, curiosity, and being intelligent were the common factor. Country of origin was not exactly a predictor in my experience.
Well, gentle reader, that’s not how IBM perceives innovation from an entire country if the data in “New Study Finds 90% Of Indian Startups Will Fail Because Of Lack Of Innovation” is on the money. IBM allegedly learned that because India (now that’s a generalization) is not innovative, Indian start ups will fail. Pretty remarkable finding from the company which has tallied five years of declining revenue and the wonky Watson Lucene-based confection.
Innovative? IBM and its researchers are convinced that their work is changing the world. Don’t believe me? Ask Watson. I would not ask a shareholder.
I learned from the report about IBM’s research:
India might have become the third largest startup ecosystem, but it lacks successful innovation.
India is a big country. Doesn’t it seem likely that some individuals would attempt to start new firms instead of trying to get a job at the local bank?
IBM and Oxford Economics found that
90% of Indian startups fail within the first five years. And the most common reason for failure is lack of innovation — 77% of venture capitalists surveyed believe that Indian startups lack new technologies or unique business models.
Yeah, but don’t startups have a high mortality rate? Don’t the business models track with legal ways to generate revenue widely used by other countries’ entrepreneurs? Heck, most patents are stuffed with references to prior art? The innovation is the cuteness of the wording in the claims in many cases, right?
You think this is innovative? You are uninformed. IBM’s study verifies the lack of innovation in India. Tear this allegedly innovative building down. Go with an IBM glass “instant building.”
Not only are those Indian entrepreneurs unimaginative when it comes to making money, IBM’s study reports:
Other reasons cited for failure include lack of skilled workforce and funding, inadequate formal mentoring and poor business ethics, according to the study. It’s well known that most Indian startups are prone to emulate successful global ideas, by and large fine tuning an existing model to serve the local need…
With more than a billion people, it seems logical to focus on the market at hand.
But IBM’s data seems to impugn India for other faults; for example:
India doesn’t have meta level startups such as Google, Facebook or Twitter….Unsurprisingly, in 2016, Asian Paints was the only Indian organization in Forbes’ 25 most innovative companies, and Gillette India was among Forbes Top 25 Innovative Growth companies.
Ah, ha. The capitalist tool Forbes includes only one company called by the surprisingly American moniker Gillette India (very creative indeed) is on the Forbes Top 25 innovative growth companies.
A guru may be the source of this insightful comment:
Even in evolving AI technology, Indian entrepreneurs are not pioneers.
But IBM sees the sun peeking through the heavy Indian clouds:
The IBM report adds that while strong government promotion of entrepreneurship has strengthened the startup culture, India’s economic openness and large domestic market are significant advantages.
What’s with IBM and its somewhat negative discussion of India? Is there an IBM Watson skeleton in the Big Blue closet wearing an IBM Watson t shirt? Did IBM’s own initiatives in India fail? Did a senior IBM executive have a bad experience at the decidedly non creative Taj Mahal? Maybe an Indian rug did not match the interior designer’s vision for Armonk carpetland?
That odd ball digit zero. I had a math professor or maybe it was my half crazy relative who may have contributed some non creative ideas to the Kolmogorov Arnold Moser theorem who told me that some Indian number crunchers cooked up the idea of a zero. IBM’s report suggests that Brahmagupta’s use of computation with the zero was definitely not innovative. I assume that means my crazed relative was innovative, not autistic, anti social, and usually lost in mathematical wonderland.
IBM is familiar with zeros. That’s the symbol I associate with IBM Watson’s contribution to IBM financial future. IBM is, of course, more innovative. It has lots of patents. Revenue growth? Nah, just money to spend proving that India’s start ups work pretty much like any other country’s start ups. Lots of failures.
Final thought: Why didn’t IBM just ask Watson about India. Why involve humans at all? By the way, where’s IBM’s Alexa, its Pixel phone, or its Facebook social network? Watson, Watson, are you there or just pondering life as an non innovative zero?
Stephen E Arnold, May 22, 2017
New AI on Personal Digital Assistant Horizon
May 22, 2017
Computer scientists at Princeton University have developed a technology that allows the user to fully edit voice recordings using an intelligent algorithm.
Science Daily in a report titled Technology Edits Voices Like Text says that:
The software, named VoCo, provides an easy means to add or replace a word in an audio recording of a human voice by editing a transcript of the recording. New words are automatically synthesized in the speaker’s voice even if they don’t appear anywhere else in the recording.
The system is capable of recreating voice of the user using an intelligent algorithm. This makes adding words to pre-recorded audio recordings easier. The same technology can also be used to create a custom robotic voice for digital personal assistants.
Currently available audio editing software are capable of snipping and patching small segments of a recording and cannot add non-existent words. Algorithm of VoCo after analyzing the entire recording is able to synthesize any word without difficulty. At this speed, do we see the current breed of rock and pop artists disappearing?
Vishol Ingole, May 22, 2017
Did IBM Watson Ask Warren Buffet about Value?
May 19, 2017
I read “$4 Billion Stock Sale Suggests Warren Buffett’s Love Affair with IBM Is Over.” The subtitle caught my eye. What would Watson think about this statement:
Berkshire Hathaway’s founder Warren Buffett has admitted that buying IBM shares was a mistake. He has sold 30 percent of his 81 million shares because the company failed to live up to the expectations it held in 2011.
If I had access to a fully functioning (already trained) IBM Watson, I would ask Watson that question directly.
Last night I was watching the NBA playoff game between the technically adept Houston team and the programming-crazed San Antonio team. There in the middle of a start and stop game was an IBM Watson commercial.
Let me tell you that the IBM Watson message nestled comfortably amidst the tats, the hysterical announcers, and the computer-literature crowd.
IBM has a knack for getting its message out to buyers with cash in their hands for a confection of open source, home brew, and acquired technology.
Why doesn’t Warren Buffet get the message?
According the the write up, Mr. Buffet explains what message he received about IBM:
… IBM “hasn’t done what, five or six years ago, I expected would happen – or what the management expected would happen, if you look back at what they were projecting, and how they thought the business would develop. “The earnings have been obviously disappointing. I mean, five or six years ago, I think they were earning $20+ billion pre-tax and maybe it’s $13 billion now, and I don’t think the quality of the earnings has improved. “It’s been a period when it’s been tougher than they thought and it’s been tougher than I thought. But I was wrong. I don’t blame them. I get paid to make my own decisions, and sometimes they’re right and sometimes they’re wrong.
Interesting but not quite as remarkable as smart software being advertised to NBA fans. Air ball.
Stephen E Arnold, May 19, 2017
Google: Fateful Advertising Decision
May 19, 2017
Has Google AdWords become indispensable for business? It is beginning to look that way, we learn from the StarTribune’s article, “How Google Decided to Take Ads on the Most Prominent Real Estate on the Web.” New York Times writer Daisuke Wakabayashi describes the company’s incorporation of search-based advertising:
In the 17 years since Google introduced text-based advertising above search results, the company has allocated more space to ads and created new forms of them. The ad creep on Google has pushed ‘organic’ (unpaid) search results farther down the screen, an effect even more pronounced on the smaller displays of smartphones. The changes are profound for retailers and brands that rely on leads from Google searches to drive online sales. With limited space available near the top of search results, not advertising on search terms associated with your brand or displaying images of your products is tantamount to telling potential customers to spend their money elsewhere. The biggest development with search ads is the proliferation of product listing ads, or PLAs. In a departure from its text-based ads, Google started allowing retailers to post pictures, descriptions and prices of products at the top of search results in 2009.
Another change is the ability for advertisers to link to more general search terms; for example, users see ads for a specific Nike design when they search for “running shoes.” The company has also put resources into optimizing ad placement on both computers and mobile devices. It has gotten to the point that many companies accept a Google AdWords initiative as a necessary expense. Can anyone topple Google from this unique marketing tower?
Cynthia Murrell, May 19, 2017
Google: We May Say We Are Sorry. Very, Very Sorry
May 18, 2017
I remember the wonderful scene in a “Fish Called Wanda.” John Cleese was apologizing to the addled US government professional. Now the US government professional held John Cleese upside down out of a window. The implication for me was that threatening death elicited a prompt, sincere apology.
I’m sorry. No, really.
The write up “Google’s Controversial DeepMind Deal for 1.6 Million NHS Patients’ Data Called Legally Inappropriate” is going to elicit something that Alphabet may spell this way:
We’re sorry. We’re really, really sorry.
The words are best rendered with the painful chords of Brenda Lee’s hit “I’m Sorry” playing on one’s Pixel phone.
The Independent wants to be digital and has a keen interest in Google or at least its referrals to the newspaper’s Web site. I learned from the “real” journalism source that:
In February last year [2016], Google said Streams would help hospital staff monitor patients with kidney disease, but a document obtained by New Scientist caused further concern when it revealed that DeepMind was receiving historical medical data, records of the location and status of patients, and even details about visitors.
Hmm. A leaked document from another “real” news outfit. Sounds pretty typical for a fake news world. My hunch is that those engaging with the Google made assumptions about what Google’s content intake system would intake.
Where are we? From my vantage point in Harrod’s Creek, the situation looks like this: Barn burned. Horses made into glue. Amazon storefront built on the site.
The write up points out the legal loophole through which one could float a Loon balloon:
Patient data and confidentiality are protected by strict rules, but patients are “implied” to have given their consent for data-sharing if it’s shared for the purpose of “direct care”.
Ah, ha. Fire up that Loon balloon, folks. She’s floating into patient dataspace.
If that balloon knocks off a chimney pot, the Silicon Valley datanauts will wave and sing:
You tell me mistakes
Are part of being young
But that don’t right
The wrong that’s been done
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-yes
Stephen E Arnold, May 18, 2017
About.com Still Running Google Adwords
May 18, 2017
I read “After 18 Years, About.com Is Changing Its Name and Shutting Down Its Website — Its CEO Reveals How It All Went Down.” The main idea is that About.com, a weird list of curated sites by topics, is dead. However, I noted this ad on May 15, 13 days after the struggling About.com took a bullet for the good of current information.
The ad appeared in a list of search results for sentiment analysis, not market sentiment analysis, but when someone is spending money to promote a terminated Web information service, that someone either is [a] blessed with oodles of cash, [b] oversees a crew of with it managers, or [c] does not know how to turn off Adwords.
Perhaps this approach to fiscal and marketing methods provides some insight into why the About.com Web site slumped to the moist early summer earth? Definitely a plus for the Google sales professional handling the dead company’s account.
Stephen E Arnold, May 18, 2017
Malware Infected USB Sticks on the Loose
May 18, 2017
Oops. We learn from TechRepublic that “IBM Admits it Sent Malware-Infected USB Sticks to Customers.”
The article cites the company’s support Advisory Post announcing the problem, a resource anyone who has received an IBM Storwize V3500, V3700 or V5000 USB drive should check for the models and serial numbers affected. The recommended fix—destroy the drive and, if you’d already inserted it, perform a malware purge on your computer.
Writer Conner Forrest describes:
So, what does the infected drive actually do to a system? ‘When the initialization tool is launched from the USB flash drive, the tool copies itself to a temporary folder on the hard drive of the desktop or laptop during normal operation,’ the IBM post said. Then, a malicious file is copied to a temporary folder called %TMP%\initTool on Windows or /tmp/initTool on Linux or Mac. It is important to note that, while the file is copied onto a machine, it isn’t actually executed during the initialization process, the post also said. As reported by ZDNet’s Danny Palmer, the malware was listed by Kaspersky lab as a member of the Reconyc Trojan malware family, which is primarily used in Russia and India.
It might be understandable if this were the first time this had happened, but IBM also unwittingly distributed infected USB drives back in 2010, at the AusCERT conference in Australia. Let us hope there is not a third time; customers rightly expect more vigilance from such a prominent company.
Cynthia Murrell, May 18, 2017
Passion for the Work Is Key to Watson Team HR
May 17, 2017
Have you ever wanted to be on the IBM Watson team? Business Insider shares, “An IBM Watson VP Says He’s Hired Candidates Without Even Conducting an Interview—Here’s Why He’d Hire You on the Spot.” The brief write-up introduces Watson’s VP of HR Obed Louissant, who reveals that he has offered some folks a job they weren’t actually seeking after speaking with them. Writer Áine Cain specifies:
In certain conversations, Louissant says that he’s been blown away by the passion and engagement with which some individuals speak about their work. … ‘It was more about the experience and what types of places they like to work at,’ Louissant says. If the type of workplace happens to sound just like IBM Watson, the branch of the company that focuses on the question answering computer system, then Louissant says he’s willing to make a job offer right then and there.”
So, never underestimate the power of revealing a passion for your work. It could just land you a better job someday, with Louissant or other corporate leaders who, like him, are ready to snap up enthusiastic workers as soon as they recognize them.
Cynthia Murrell, May 17, 2017
Catch the Chatbots Chattering Away
May 17, 2017
Chatbots are not self-aware, but the better-programmed ones are so “intelligent” they can hold a real conversation with a human. While chatbots are meant to engage humans in conversation, have you ever wondered what would happen if two bots are told to speak with each other? YouTube user winter blessed decided to pit Mitsuku and Cleverbot against one another. You can view the results in the video, “Mitsuku vs Cleverbot – AI (Artificial Intelligence) Showdown.”
Mitsuku is a female-styled chatbot that can be accessed like a Flash game, while Cleverbot was built using Cleverscript-a SAS that teaches people how to build their own chatbots. While both Mitsuku and Cleverbot are highly praised, neither of them use Bitext’s analytics platform to help power chats. They might benefit from incorporating it into their conversations.
Listening to Mitsuku and Cleverbot is an interesting demonstration of how far chatbots have progressed and still how limited they are. The pair does comprehend each other, but they end up misinterpreting questions and responding incorrectly. It is like listening to someone who strictly relied on Google Translate to speak a foreign language. Their conversation is understandable, but devoid of meaning. Humans are still needed to add meaning behind the words.
Whitney Grace, May 17, 2017
HonkinNews for 16 May 2017 Now Available
May 16, 2017
HonkinNews notes a Silicon Valley’s assessment of IBM Watson. (Trigger Warning: If you are an IBM stakeholder, you will not be too thrilled.) Social Capital’s Chamath Palihapitiya described the Watson billion dollar bet at a “joke.” Yikes! The statement was made on the US financial news program “Closing Bell.” You will learn where to locate the Department of Defense’s Memex open source code collection. The information is not in the US government’s Code.gov Web site, the so-called hub for open source software. The list, software developer, description, and link to the software appear on the Darpa Web site. A description of some of the software and a link to the Darpa Web page also appear in our “Dark Web Notebook,” which you can pre-order from our Xenky.com site. How useful is artificial intelligence for attorneys? HonkinNews reports that it is mostly a human-assisted search system. Software, it seems, cannot advise clients or appear in court. As the software improves, some displaced attorneys way seek jobs at Kentucky Fried Chicken. This week’s program summarizes research about bursty search. The approach requires running multiple queries and thinking about the subject of the search. The approach is different from bowling team research for pizza. The bowlers click an icon and wait for the delivery professional. That’s what HonkinNews calls tasty search. You can view the program at this link.
Kenny Toth, May 16, 2017
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