Comments on: IBM’s Watson goes to medical school

By: jerry t. searcy

jerry t. searcy — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 06:23:05 +0000

The attempt to develop an A.I. to serve as P.O.T.U.S. might be named Colossus! Be sure Libertarians program it…to do otherwise would change nothing!

By: Bri

Bri — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 22:55:53 +0000

Check out the DaVinci system. It views things in multiple frequencies of light, enabling surgeons to better see diseased tissue. You can take a video of yourself doing an action and remove the background by an algorithm. Computer vision isn’t that far off in the distance, and will soon be far superior.

By: de Broglie

de Broglie — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 20:45:03 +0000

Watson would most likely be a pro-choice Republican. Some even say Romney is a robot. Of course, being skilled with rhetoric, like Obama, is very important. Politics is not solely about making rational decisions. In that case we probably would have repeatedly elected secular Republicans. George W. Bush would not have been the Republican nominee.

By: de Broglie

de Broglie — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 20:37:28 +0000

Computer vision is still quite a ways off.

By: de Broglie

de Broglie — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 20:36:23 +0000

Would Watson hold up well under the race card?

By: melajara

melajara — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 02:22:05 +0000

News header, circa 2026 ;-)

Building up on Watson III quasi exhaustive knowledge in law and Watson IV, the wizard in economics, Watson V, dubbed “Gubernator”, has been attending Congress sessions for more than 2 years now.

The bi-partisan political system having actually ruined U.S. leadership, there are now strong voices from both parties encouraging Watson V to run for the next U.S. presidential election.

By: Mr.X

Mr.X — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 00:34:20 +0000

Watson… watson, watson! Shouldn’t have gone into early retirement, now this lackwit get’s famous using my esoteric teachings.

Greetings; Holmes.

By: 5dd

5dd — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 00:05:16 +0000

Check-out the da Vinci Surgical System. A set of hands perfect for the new Dr. Watson with the surgical package upgrade! Guess all he needs now are eyes …

By: Editor

Editor — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 23:00:09 +0000

Thanks for bringing this up. The question of what constitutes medical information that is both valid and useful (and also considers insurance and legal issues) is important. The “four to eight” figure was in reference to the half life of information (not clear if they mean information used by physicians or teachers, or medical reseachers), not to the information that teachers are actually either using in their instruction or aware of. I’m going to explore these issues with IBM.

By: AZryan

AZryan — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 22:48:03 +0000

I think ‘House’ would make a lot more sense in this medical case.

By: Thomas Idzikowski

Thomas Idzikowski — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 22:28:53 +0000

This whole, “having the medical students and teaching physicians” correct Watson is a way to make the students and teaching physicians feel like they can actually influence Watson’s learning process when they actually shouldn’t. The “teachers” are using that 4-8 year old data, mentioned above, at best. I hope there is a version of Watson which leaves out their input. The human doctor’s should stick to doing research until computers are better at that as well. At that point, they should all take a vacation and find a new job programming computers.

By: Bri

Bri — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 21:42:02 +0000

Watson could shred any professional. Just imagine it in the field of law. In the OJ trial, Cockrans” if the gloves don’t fit, you must acquit” would have fallen flat. Anyone who whatches westerns would remember that leather shrinks when it gets wet and dries. There was no way for those gloves to fit him anymore.

By: Bri

Bri — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 21:35:18 +0000

From my experiences with doctors, Watson will send them off to chat with the patients and their families, while Watson will be learning even more, every second.

By: Jim Mooney

Jim Mooney — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 21:00:22 +0000

They just don’t want to admit that the doctors will be the “very smart assistants.” Well, maybe not as smart – but they have hands. If Watson gets hands they’re in trouble.

By: de Broglie

de Broglie — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 19:42:58 +0000

Funny joke! That is actually one of the best jokes I have ever read on this site. It also makes you wonder whether Watson would be good assistant to detectives. It would give a new meaning to Watson’s name. Although medical assistant is a good public face for Watson, it seems that Watson would actually be more important for finance applications where humans are involved such as decisions pertaining to all types of underwriting. Watson could be a great assistant ready with answers.

By: Brian Roberts

Brian Roberts — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 19:18:04 +0000

Right on Derek

By: Derek

Derek — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 19:10:14 +0000

And then it’ll be time to change Watson’s name to Sherlock!

By: Kristof77

Kristof77 — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 18:39:11 +0000

Any word on when this tech will start to bring down the cost health care? I’d take Watson diagnosis if it cost me less. I cant happen soon enough!

By: Gorden Russell

Gorden Russell — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 18:03:17 +0000

For sure, chrisf. With the rate of progress accelerating exponentially, no busy doctor in practice can keep up with all of the latest advances. Without a Watson assistant, the only way to get a doctor with all the latest knowledge is to go to a clinic of a teaching hospital. That’s what I do and I keep getting these sexy young ladies checking my prostrate.

By: chrisf

chrisf — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 14:37:43 +0000

I think you’re dead right Hoss. Another year or two to get the software perfect, and it’ll likely be making more accurate diagnoses than any human doctor. I think perhaps we humans will soon be in the role of “smart assistants” to Watson !

By: GAUSS

GAUSS — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 14:22:03 +0000

Eastern medicine – i.e. TCM – is no walk in the park either. This level of expert system has a long way to go.

By: Hoss

Hoss — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 11:53:30 +0000

Watson will smile politely and complete medical school in three seconds while reminiscing the old days when grandpa defeated Kasparov in six games and he himself shredded Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter on Jeopardy. Of course Western medicine is so complex, the most he can ever hope to achieve is “very smart assistant.” Give me a break.