Submitted by Peter on Fri 16 Sep at 9:10 AM

I think what's making Watson successful is its internal architecture. It's looking at so many different algorithms—thousands of different algorithms—some of them focused on understanding the question, weighting the various terms, looking at the grammar, the syntax, finding the phrases, the keywords, the entities, the dates, the times, trying to understand what it is being asked.

~ David Ferrucci, head of the IBM team that programmed Watson

Watch the full episode. See more NOVA.

 

Watson is the super computer that recently acheived an astonishing feat by beating two of Jeopardy's greatest champions.  Now the the technology behind Watson is being used to open new possibilites in a host of different areas, including medicine and healthcare, text support, publishing and finance.  Watson is now trying to learning medicine at the University of Maryland.  Dr. Eliot Siegel, professor and vice chairman of the University of Maryland School of Medicine's Department of Diagnostic Radiology is hoping that Watson can learn from medical literature and from unusual cases dealing with rare diseases or unexpected symptoms.  The goal is to empower Watson to be able to offer diagnoses or to answer verbal questions.  Incredible.

 

I think what this challenge helps us appreciate, frankly, is how incredible the human brain is.

~ David Ferrucci, head of the IBM team that programmed Watson

Summary: 

IBM has created Watson, the world's smartest computer and then beat Jeopardy's best players.

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