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IBM’s Watson is really good at creating cancer treatment plans
Jeopardy-winning Watson is getting better and better at designing cancer treatments. New data presented this week at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting show that IBM's Watson for Oncology suggests cancer treatments that are often in-line with what physicians recommend. The company also announced that the cancer care product, designed to help physicians diagnose and treat their patients, is being used by nine new medical centers around the world.
AI is already beating us at our own game
Although modern AI systems still have trouble deciding whether or not to flip that stranded tortoise in their path, they're already outpacing the intellectual capabilities of their creators in a wide variety of fields. From beating grandmaster Go players to outguessing cardiac surgeons, lipreading to audio transcription, neural networks and machine learning have already surpassed humans -- and that list is only going to grow longer.
IBM Watson adds voice commands to 'Star Trek' VR game
Ubisoft's Star Trek: Bridge Crew won't just put you in a VR starship when it finally launches. It'll also give you the power to interact with the virtual Starfleet crew with your voice. The company has teamed up with IBM to add Watson's interactive speech capabilities to the game, so you can tell a crew member to launch a missile -- and maybe even pompously add "make it so" in the end -- instead of using manual controls. Bridge Crew was supposed to launch last year but was plagued with numerous delays. It's now scheduled to come out on May 30th for the PC and PS4, with Watson's voice commands to follow later this summer during a Beta period.
AI Xprize asks for bold solutions to humanity's greatest problems
The XPrize program is no stranger to moon shots. From capturing carbon to cleaning water -- even literal trips to the moon and Star Trek-style tricorders -- the contest seeks the boldest solutions to humanity's greatest challenges. That tradition continues in the company's latest competition, the IBM Watson AI XPrize, in which 147 teams from 22 countries will compete for a $5 million purse over the next four years.
Watson could be the key to smarter manufacturing robots
Some reports predict that robots will replace 5 million jobs in the next couple of years. Bill Gates thinks we need a "robot tax" to compensate for those losses. A new partnership announced today between Swiss automation firm ABB and IBM's Watson initiative could hasten that future while it seeks to improve efficiency in on the manufacturing floor.
IBM's Watson looked into my soul and 'drew' my portrait
Since its introduction to the world in 2009, IBM's Watson supercomputer has been crushing humans in Jeopardy, helping chefs make food with unconventional recipes and even offering tech support. But what happens when the artificial intelligence machine puts its own spin on a photo booth? To find out, I checked out IBM's "Art with Watson: Hidden Portraits," an exhibit that's being displayed in New York City until May 7th. The gallery features portraits of historic personalities like Marie Curie and Nikola Tesla, which Watson helped artists create by feeding them data collected using its natural language and personality insights APIs.
IBM Watson offers tech support that never sleeps
If your company uses IBM's helpdesk services, don't be surprised if you find yourself talking to Watson next time you contact the IT department. IBM has added a Watson-powered concierge-like service to its helpdesk, and it can quickly solve your IT issues around the clock, wherever you are in the world and whatever device you're using. Unlike automated bots, you can talk to Watson about your issues like you're talking to another person. It can then customize its responses -- for instance, it can use layman's terms if you're not that tech-savvy or use jargons if you are.
Shipping giant tests IBM's blockchain tech to track cargo
Maersk Line, known as the world's largest container shipping company, has teamed up with IBM to start using blockchain to track its cargo. From the time the tech titan opened its Watson-powered blockchain service to enterprise customers last year, it has already signed up over 400 clients, including Walmart. It helps companies use blockchain -- a digital leader that logs transactions that can't be modified later -- in different ways, not just for financial transactions. For Maersk, it's to give buyers, sellers and customs officials a way to keep track of the goods it hauls as they make their way across the globe. Everybody involved can check where the shipment is at any point.
Watson helps treat heart disease by looking at medical images
IBM's Watson technology has helped doctors before, but usually by poring through databases before offering its advice. Now, it's ready to look at the patients themselves -- or rather, their body scans. It's following up on past promises by launching Watson Clinical Imaging Review, its first picture-based cognitive computing solution. The AI platform can sift through ultrasounds, x-rays and other medical data to both fill out health records and identify patients who might need critical care.
Watson-based cancer project paused after running aground
It's tempting to treat IBM's Watson as a cure-all: just throw some cognitive computing at the problem and you'll make everything better. That can only happen if it's well-implemented, however, and we've just seen what happens when things go awry. The University of Texas' MD Anderson Cancer Center has put its highly-touted Watson project (the Oncology Expert Advisor) on hold after an audit discovered both spending issues and an unfocused strategy that didn't meet goals.
IBM and Indiegogo are bringing Watson's smarts to the masses
IBM sees a big future in the Internet of Things. The company unveiled its $200 million IoT headquarters in Munich this week as part of its planned $3 billion investment in the connected devices industry. So far, however, the tech behemoth has mostly lent Watson's brains to larger companies and research projects. That's about to change thanks to a new partnership from IBM, Indiegogo and Arrow Electronics that promises to give independent developers and entrepreneurs access to those same machine learning tools.
IBM's Watson-powered voice assistant is built for security pros
If it wasn't already clear that AI-powered voice assistants are ready for the workplace, it is now. IBM is not only launching Watson for Cybersecurity, a cognitive computing service that parses legions of security reports to extract relevant info, but is unveiling an experimental voice helper to go along with it. Havyn lets digital defense experts ask for threat updates and recommended solutions when it would otherwise be too time-consuming. If security analysts are already hip-deep in work, they don't have to sidetrack themselves with a new research path when Havyn can produce a useful answer in seconds.
IBM's Watson will help you file your taxes
Tax experts can find deductions that you might otherwise miss, but they're only human -- they can only find so many potential savings, let alone paint a larger picture of your finances. They're about to get a helping hand, though. IBM is partnering with H&R Block to make Watson a part of the tax filing process at locations across the US starting on February 6th. After you participate in an initial interview, the artificial intelligence will offer suggestions to Tax Pros (read: experts) looking for deductions, and illustrate the bigger picture for you on a dedicated client screen. Ideally, Watson's ability to understand context and intent will turn your statements into tangible data that leads to bigger tax breaks.
The Engadget Podcast Ep 19: Simply the Best
In this week's episode guest host Devindra Hardawar is joined by managing editor Dana Wollman and senior editor Chris Velazco as they run through the biggest winners of 2016. While it might have been a rough year for our musical legends, it was a pretty solid one for Netflix and Tesla. Heck, even in the throes of a growing fake news crisis, Facebook managed to have more wins than loses. And, once they've finished listing off all the ways emoji are taking over the world, they'll look at some of the best gadgets of 2016.
2016: The year in winners and losers
2016 was an interesting one, that's for sure. To celebrate its quickly approaching end, we're going to spend the next two weeks looking back at the most important story lines of the year -- starting with the biggest winners of 2016. (Don't worry, next week we'll be taking shots at the biggest losers.) Over the next six days Engadget will take stock of who is entering 2017 in a much better position than in 2016. Facebook for one, has started to really pull away from its social media competitors, despite its struggles with fake news. And, after years of being promised that VR or AR would go mainstream, 2016 finally seems to have delivered. Oh, and we also saw emoji evolve from a bunch of silly pictures into a full-fledged language of its own -- one that represents the diversity of our society. So stay tuned through December 31st as we run down the biggest winners and losers of 2016. Check out all of Engadget's year-in-review coverage right here.
In IBM's future, Watson will be your doctor
IBM is working on a way to make its Watson supercomputer a far more effective medical tool for flesh-and-blood doctors. The company wants to use the platform to analyze medical imaging data to learn what a healthy set of insides looks like. It should then be able to identify when things have gone awry in scan images to direct doctors toward areas of concern. If this data is merged with each patient's medical records, it could mean faster and more effective treatment for serious conditions.
GM will use Watson AI to recommend services on the road
Artificial intelligence isn't just being used to automate cars... it's finding a home in conventional cars, too. GM has unveiled a partnership with IBM that will see the Watson cognitive computing platform power OnStar Go, its latest in-car service offering. The AI technology will suggest stores and services based on your location, your decisions and your habits. If you're driving home from work, for example, OnStar can remind you to pick up shopping on the way back. It can also recommend restaurants when you arrive in a new city, or tell you that a store order is ready for pickup.
IBM's Watson is lending its smarts to Slack and its chat bot
Slack is going to tap into IBM pet Watson and its cognitive computing skills, covering both bots and other conversation inferences. Slack's own Slackbot will be the first to get the intelligence makeover, with IBM and Slack looking to share what they learn from the experience with other developers. The companies believe integrating Watson will improve accuracy and efficiency of troubleshooting with the bot. IBM is also working on a Watson-powered Slack chatbot specifically for IT and network issues.
IBM Watson collaborates on EP with Grammy-winning producer
IBM's Watson has upended any romantic notions of songwriting by making it a precise formula of inspiration, emotion, musical theory and trends. The AI system's new music algorithm, called "Beat," helped producer Alex da Kid create his first solo EP of four songs, the first of which, Not Easy (feat. X Ambassadors, Elle King and Wiz Khalifa), dropped on Friday. To be clear, IBM's bot didn't write the song, but rather generated "completely new musical scores" that da Kid (who produced singles by Dr. Dre, Rhianna and others) used as inspiration for the tunes.
After Math: Ooooohhh, numbers!
It's been a big week for counting. IBM laid out $200 million in Watson research, Amazon dropped the price of its fresh produce deliveries, Oculus unveiled a slew of new accessories for its VR headset and Sony announced 80 -- count 'em, 8-0 -- titles for its upcoming PSVR platform. Numbers, because what else is your right hemisphere good for?
