from Hacker News

A Room Where Executives Go to Get Help from IBM’s Watson

by devonbarrett on 8/8/14, 5:43 PM with 32 comments

  • by incision on 8/8/14, 7:33 PM

    Sounds like a very cool demo, but the optimism of some of these ideas is quaint.

    If Watson is good enough at speech and context recognition to accomplish these things IBM can/will sell truckloads of Watson as a Service for the purpose of monitoring employees.

    WaaS will read everyone's email and parse conversations recorded by their desktops and phones to identify people who are off-task, leaking information or talking about unions.

    That's the sort of thing Executives care about it. When I set up email retention systems they were primarily interested in being exempt from journaling. When I set up physical security systems they wanted to be sure the executive board room cameras weren't mic'd and faced away from the main presentation area.

    In practice, both systems were primarily used to keep tabs on employees - who was dumb enough to send an email to the news from work and who's leaving early.

    This is how 'intelligent' systems will be used - electronic overseers with distributed eyes and ears - long before it's confined as a guest boardroom showpiece that gets tossed for suggesting the CXO get off his soapbox in a timely manner or correcting his knowingly incorrect assertions.

  • by piptastic on 8/8/14, 6:41 PM

    Just having software that can record and transcribe only relevant conversations, record action items, and email summaries would vastly improve the state of the meetings I attend.

    Nothing worse than wasting 3 hours in a meeting and coming out where participants remember things incorrectly and go off in different directions.

  • by MalcolmPF on 8/8/14, 7:23 PM

    >“I recommend eliminating Kawasaki Robotics.” When Watson was asked to explain, it simply added. “It is inferior to Cognilytics in every way.”

    Getting some serious M5 vibes right now.

  • by sgt101 on 8/8/14, 10:39 PM

    IBM reps have been pitching Watson to me for years, but never have we seen an implementation or a commercial offer, much less a demonstration of something of value to us. Weirdly it clearly exists, or did exist, but I think marketing and sales have robbed R&D of the budget required to create a product and until they sell the non existent I think this will continue to be the case. If I was an IBM stockholder I would be pissed off.

  • by orf on 8/8/14, 7:10 PM

    > IBM’s researchers are also considering other ways the technology at work in their current demo might help out in a workplace—for example, by having software log the relative contributions of different people to a discussion

    I find that incredibly creepy and hope to god that never is developed.

  • by Spooky23 on 8/8/14, 7:33 PM

    If technology like this really had a basis in reality, one would think that some early prototype would be delivering positive business results.

    When I think IBM, I think accounting tricks to maximize stock price. Not seeing deep insight.

  • by coldcode on 8/8/14, 6:31 PM

    I wonder if they pick up a phone and ask "Come here Watson I need you."

  • by drdeadringer on 8/8/14, 7:16 PM

    "Multivac, I have a question..."

  • by anigbrowl on 8/8/14, 7:51 PM

    The failure (or limitations, because I don't wish to talk down the very real achievements) of current AI is the overfocus on building computers that provide answers to our questions.

    We're not going to get real AI until we develop a system that asks us questions and has a sense of curiosity. A system that can make suggestions is excellent, but as described it's effectively cybermancy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methods_of_divination). One doesn't get the sense that Watson is ever going to interrupt or pose a question on its own initiative, other than to clarify a human request put to it.

  • by noonespecial on 8/8/14, 11:24 PM

    "Starving minds, welcome to Dr. Know! Where fast food for thought is served up 24 hours a day, in 40,000 locations nationwide. Ask. Dr. Know - there's nothing I don't."

  • by alxndr on 8/8/14, 7:42 PM

    Reminds me of MUTHER from the Venture Brothers...

    http://venturefans.org/vbwiki/M.U.T.H.E.R.

  • by roberjo on 8/8/14, 6:34 PM

    Sure, but is Watson a Six Sigma Green Belt?