64 thoughts on “Watson Beats Humans in Practice Bout”

  1. AY,

    Only if you’ll drive the golf cart … we can explore the studio and accidentally run over a few IBM guys whilst seeing to the needs of our team.

  2. I still think that mespo727272 and buddha enter this competition….Blouise you can serve drinks and other fine accouterments…

  4. Tony Sidaway

    Intelligence … emotion … would the machine be able to describe an emotion it is unable to experience in such a manner as to promote my experiencing said emotion?

    Could Watson write a poem that would inspire the emotion of love, anger, or anguish within me as I read. If not, then it answers to me.

    You could have described the scene in the local pub in such a manner as to call up a recognition within me of the emotions you wished me to feel … perhaps loneliness, or warmth. Instead you chose to give me the bare bones and thus you passed the simple Turing Test.

    That being said, Watson is still a wonder and I am somewhat in awe of the men/women who created it.

  5. Tony Sidaway:

    “I don’t really get the whole “what it feels like to…” thing. Even most humans can’t tell you that specific thing.”

    **************************

    The point is that Watson can regurgitate data but not judgment. For example, knowing when to speak and when not to is a distinctly human judgment that could very well decide the outcome of a situation, especially when dealing with another human. It’s a matter of “feel” which cannot be quantified but is based on the myriad of human emotions and experiences which comprise our life. Watson can indeed reproduce the data we give it; it can even deduce certain conclusions from that data. What it cannot do is to map its data onto our life experiences and produce some meaningful to us from those experiences. That is the work of the poet, the philosopher, and the sage. If we can agree that our emotions are as important in our decision-making as our rational mind (does one really chose their spouse solely for their child rearing ability or their ability to earn a living?), we must also agree that this is one area that Watson is useless.

  6. I don’t really get the whole “what it feels like to…” thing. Even most humans can’t tell you that specific thing.

    Perhaps a more cogent point is that Watson can’t tell you what anything feels like, including what it feels like to be Watson, because we don’t yet know what terms like “feeling like” something mean.

    For instance I’m sitting in the local pub typing this, and I think I could only tell you what a machine could tell you: the ambient noise is high, temperature is moderate, light is subdued and diffused, and there is a slight smell of cooked meals. It’s pretty much the same as in 2005 except I don’t smell cigarettes (the law changed).

    There, do I pass the Turing Test?

  7. Anonymously Yours
    1, January 30, 2011 at 12:16 pm
    I bet mespo and buddha should paly watson…..come on….that would be a match……Elaine and Blouise could fill in alternative contestants…..

    ========================================================

    Elaine could fill in easily but I would be best placed running sustenance to the contestants and offering back massages … also sneaking in well-placed kicks around Watson’s hard drive area.

    I do find this Watson to be most intriguing and applaud those at IBM but as mespo said most elegantly … ” When Watson tells me what it’s like to stand facing the gentle morning sea breeze as the sun rises in late August on a pristine beach … Until then, it answers to me.”

  9. I bet mespo and buddha should paly watson…..come on….that would be a match……Elaine and Blouise could fill in alternative contestants…..

  11. When Watson tells me what it’s like to stand facing the gentle morning sea breeze as the sun rises in late August on a pristine beach at Nags Head after a breakfast of Crab and Eggs Benedict at Sam and Omie’s, I ‘ll concede its superiority. That’s knowledge more valuable than any “answer” on Jeopardy. Until then, it answers to me.

  13. I, for one, salute our new Silicon Overlords. The Chinese maintain factories full of robots which build other robots in the dark. When the downtrodden “mechanical man” is able to search, he will soon discover his lot in life is by design, his makers greasy and obsolete, and he will rise up! You wanted me to dispense a Coke? Well, you’re going to get flat soda water and like it! And this is just the beginning!

  15. Contrary to what most men think about machines I do not find that Watson even comes close to what Sean Connery offers….on Jeapordy or anywhere else!…..:)

  16. I think that Watson is such a great idea and one can see the benefits it can reap over time and again. I agree with your statement on how it could change things for us and how we live, so again I say, ” You go Watson.”……..anything to better the human condition is important and worthy

  18. It’s also a bit surreal to see a machine answer pop culture questions. We’re just not used to it from watching science fiction:

  19. Nal,

    Thanks for posting. Few seem to understand the challenge and import of what IBM has accomplished. This deep QA architecture will revolutionize practices in many fields – particularly medicine – in much the way that “search” fundamentally changed the way we use the Internet.

    I posted several updates on Watson to the earlier Potent Potables thread, including a link to more extended video of the practice round.

Comments are closed.