I watched the IBM edition of Jeopardy and I am going to be thinking about it for quite a while. In some ways Watson’s win can be seen as seminal event in human history, but in other ways the jury is still out on how best to judge this accomplishment. Either way, my hat is off to the IBM research team that has developed Watson. These people deserve enormous respect and bonuses because it has been a long time since IBM’s brand has shined so bright in front of so many people. Many of us have known that IBM has been coming back for many, many years but Watson has now raised IBM’s public image by at least an order of magnitude.
To just mention one group of knowledge workers, Robert Weber, IBM’s senior vice president and general counsel, points out that Watson will matter to lawyers. You can read his article here in the National Law Journal.
Also, you may be interested in this Wired interview with IBM Watson researcher Eric Brown regarding the speed with which Watson can “buzz in” with an answer.
Latest news: IBM and Nuance have announced an agreement to develop Watson’s technology for the healthcare industry.