Watson

Collarspace Discussion Forums

Home Login Search

Watson

View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Logged in as: Guest

All Forums >> [Casual Banter] >> Off the Grid >> Watson

Page: [1]

Message

<< Older Topic Newer Topic >>

Watson - 6/30/2010 6:27:14 PM

MasterG2kTR

Posts: 6677
Joined: 8/7/2004
From: Wisconsin
Status: offline

It appears that we are getting ever closer to having computers like the ones we have seen in Star Trek for the last couple decades. Watson could be the first of it's kind for future generations of computers like those of Star Trek. For the younger generations here in the forum you don't know how primitive computers once were unless you read about them in a book. For those that are closer to my age you understand quite well how amazing this breakthrough is. IBM's Deep Blue cleared a major hurdle when it beat Kasparov, but that was linear logic based on one concept. Now we have Watson which is striving towards (what amounts to) free thought and observation, along with associative (memory) recall.

While I don't think these will become mainstream in my lifetime, I think that perhaps somewhere in the next two or three generations it will happen. So long as a company named Cyberdyne (Terminator) doesn't control them the future will be pretty cool for computers.

Profile

Post #: 1

RE: Watson - 12/16/2010 8:40:49 PM

MasterG2kTR

Posts: 6677
Joined: 8/7/2004
From: Wisconsin
Status: offline

Yeah I know this is six months old, but I thought it was worth bringing up once more. I just saw Alex Trebek announce that Watson will be aired on TV in a competition along with Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter (the two biggest winning players of all time). The contest will air in February 2011.

/snip
So, will you be watching this historic match when Jeopardy! will pit man versus machine?

(in reply to MasterG2kTR)

Profile

Post #: 2

RE: Watson - 12/17/2010 1:47:19 AM

Termyn8or

Posts: 18681
Joined: 11/12/2005
Status: offline

In the words of Mr. Spock : Fascinating.

Right ^ there is another place a computer would have to adapt as the last sentence is technically grammatically incorrect. They mentioned puns as well, and there are of course literal and verbal puns. Hard to think of examples right this second but you get the drift. A literal pun is rarer than a verbal pun.

Another thing, in the video they had the thing playing Jeopardy !, so just as human contestants go on a trial run, and this airs within a couple of months, I guess that was Watson's trial run. I wonder if Watson will self direct it's study as a human would in such a situation. Try to identify any weak areas of knowledge and address them.

T

(in reply to MasterG2kTR)

Profile

Post #: 3

RE: Watson - 12/21/2010 7:54:42 PM

kinkbound

Posts: 387
Joined: 9/15/2007
Status: offline

I agree, it truly is fascinating! I'm surprised this thread didn't generate more interest.

(in reply to Termyn8or)

Profile

Post #: 4

RE: Watson - 12/21/2010 8:09:42 PM

Termyn8or

Posts: 18681
Joined: 11/12/2005
Status: offline

Too many people arguing about taxes, gun rights, candy cane rights and politics.

Can you even imagine programming a computer that can really talk ? I wonder if that one does. Did they actually do that or is just a more elaborate set of phons in the program. Maybe that's the breakthrough, for real. And does it do voice recognition for real, or is just ..... I don't know how to put this. Is it just a computer that can read voiceprints or something more ?

I don't watch TV, but I think I will make an exception for that show.

T

(in reply to kinkbound)

Profile

Post #: 5

RE: Watson - 12/21/2010 8:47:39 PM

kinkbound

Posts: 387
Joined: 9/15/2007
Status: offline

quote:

I don't watch TV, but I think I will make an exception for that show.

That's two good ideas in one sentence.

(in reply to Termyn8or)

Profile

Post #: 6

RE: Watson - 12/21/2010 10:35:37 PM

kinkbound

Posts: 387
Joined: 9/15/2007
Status: offline

Related info:

< Message edited by kinkbound -- 12/21/2010 10:36:07 PM >

(in reply to kinkbound)

Profile

Post #: 7

RE: Watson - 12/22/2010 2:14:43 AM

Termyn8or

Posts: 18681
Joined: 11/12/2005
Status: offline

Although the genre of that piece is scifi, tis true that one must dream before inventing. At one point watching I thought about the Terminator movies, 1 & 2, I never watched anything beyond that, but then lo and behold they mention it. Go back to Star Trek TOS and think of Roddenberry's dreams. Some have come true if you know where to look. An example that sounded uncanny at first was the episode about Sherman's planet, the space station and a grain call quadrotriticale. In the fiction it was invented in Canada. Well triticale does exist, looking at the roots of the word, it is a cross between three different geni, or species of grain, and it was invented in Canada right around the time they said. The tricorder used by "Bones", sounds to me like a portable handheld CAT and MRI scanner, and one other thing since it also wears the prefix tri.

Years ago I predicted incorrectly that soon the most powerful microprocessors would be different, in that they would operate optically. The spped of electrons passing through a conductor is not necessarily the speed of light. That's why the RAM in your computer is udually placed as near as possible to the processor. Of course even the speed of light is not the speed of ligh except in a vacuum, so are we going to have vacuum tubes again ? I also believe that though my predictuion turned out to be incorrect as far as I know, I think it very possible that my prediction was only premature.

Part of the problem with technology being so advanced, is Man's laziness. We will want machines to take over much manual labor. Then you have to give the thing a battery and limbs. As long as these things don't get physical, you can always pull the plug.

Of course in the late 1970s (IIRC) they developed a self powered integrated circuit. And guess who did it - IBM. My Uncle who worked there said that it was a bit scary, you might not be able to turn it off. But now think of what year it is now. Thirty years ago it was 1980. What have they been up to since then ?

I've been to the patent office online, it was cool but...... Maybe I should go back and look for NEW patents.

T

(in reply to kinkbound)

Profile

Post #: 8