IBM Updates 'Watson' with 5 New Features

IBM Watson, a Cognitive Computer that Rose to Fame by Competing on Jeopardy, is Doing Much More than Beating Ken Jennings these Days. On IBM’s Bluemix Cloud Computing Platform, Registered Developers Can Integrate Watson’s Brainpower into their Apps. And as of this Past Week, IBM has Added 5 More Features to the Watson Developer Cloud. From Speech-to-Text to Image Analysis, Devs Can Now Accomplish Even More with Watson. In a Blog Post, IBM Vice-President, Jerome Pesenti, Details 5 New Watson Services Available on Bluemix. Speech-to-Text, Text-to-Speech, Visual Recognition, Concept Insights and Tradeoff Analytics Join the Watson Developer Cloud.


Combined with the 8 Existing Services Previously Made Available by IBM, there are Now 13 Different Watson-Powered Services on Offer. It’s Certainly Not a Turnkey Solution for Game Show Success but, there are Countless Possibilities in Healthcare, Businesses and Hobbies alike. In the Post, Pesenti Provides an Explanation and a Series of Use Cases for Each of these Services. It’s a Nice Summary but, the Most Interesting Part, is the Interactive Demos included alongside Each Service. For Example, the Tradeoff Analytics Demo Allows you to Pick an Optimal Smartphone or Drug Candidate Based on Customized Criteria.


In the Visual Recognition Demo, Watson will do its Best to Guess What is Contained in your Photos. It’s Not the 1st Time these Concepts Have been Implemented but, it’s an Impressive Showing Nonetheless. It’s Easy to See How these Services could be Useful in Professional Contexts. Doctors Can Use these Tools to Find Ideal Treatment Plans, Investors Can Make More Informed Decisions and Tech Support Phone Banks Can be Staffed with Problem Solving Computers instead of People. After All, Dr. Sbaitso and Siri Have already Made Great Strides towards Familiarizing All of us with Talking Computers.


Personally, I’m Interested in Seeing these Services Applied to Genealogy — a Passion of Mine which I’ve Covered here before. Often, Genealogists are Left Sifting through Historical Records Trying to Make Sense of Piles of Contradictory Information. Truth be Told, the Thought of Using Watson to Break through Brick Walls in my Research Makes me More than a Little Giddy. And When you Apply those Ideas to More Important Matters like Cancer Research or Studying Viruses, the Excitement Can Only Multiply.