IBM Watson

This article is about IBM's QA machine revealed in 2011. For generative AI tool released in 2023, see IBM Watsonx.
IBM Watson
OperatorsIBM
LocationThomas J. Watson Research Center, New York, USA
Architecture2,880 POWER7 processor threads
Memory16 terabytes of RAM
Speed80 teraFLOPS
WebsiteIBM Watson

IBM Watson is a computer system capable of answering questions posed in natural language.[1] It was developed as a part of IBM's DeepQA project by a research team, led by principal investigator David Ferrucci.[2] Watson was named after IBM's founder and first CEO, industrialist Thomas J. Watson.[3][4]

The computer system was initially developed to answer questions on the popular quiz show Jeopardy![5] and in 2011, the Watson computer system competed on Jeopardy! against champions Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings,[3][6] winning the first-place prize of US$1 million.[7]

In February 2013, IBM announced that Watson's first commercial application would be for utilization management decisions in lung cancer treatment, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, in conjunction with WellPoint (now Elevance Health).[8]

  1. ^ "DeepQA Project: FAQ". IBM. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved February 11, 2011.
  2. ^ Ferrucci, David; Levas, Anthony; Bagchi, Sugato; Gondek, David; Mueller, Erik T. (2013-06-01). "Watson: Beyond Jeopardy!". Artificial Intelligence. 199: 93–105. doi:10.1016/j.artint.2012.06.009.
  3. ^ a b Hale, Mike (February 8, 2011). "Actors and Their Roles for $300, HAL? HAL!". The New York Times. Retrieved February 11, 2011.
  4. ^ "The DeepQA Project". IBM Research. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
  5. ^ "Dave Ferrucci at Computer History Museum – How It All Began and What's Next". IBM Research. December 1, 2011. Archived from the original on March 13, 2012. Retrieved February 11, 2012.
  6. ^ Loftus, Jack (April 26, 2009). "IBM Prepping 'Watson' Computer to Compete on Jeopardy!". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  7. ^ "IBM's "Watson" Computing System to Challenge All Time Henry Lambert Jeopardy! Champions". Sony Pictures Television. December 14, 2010. Archived from the original on June 16, 2013.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference wellpoint was invoked but never defined (see the help page).