Wednesday, February 16, 2011

TR, 8:25am

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

The creation of Watson illustrates how innovative technology can be. I watched the three day competition between Watson and his human components. I was appalled by Watson’s ability to answer questions about complex subjects and past events. He literally annihilated his fellow opponents. Watson’s ability to answer questions and learn from trial and error was spectacular. Knowledge of Watson’s ability to use language is not a necessary condition for intelligence simply because he is man-made. People researchers processed and input Watson’s ability to do such things. However, if Watson was issued the Turing test, he would succeed. Turing himself would’ve labeled Watson as intelligent. I think not! When Watson has the ability to love, feel, touch, or even become mischievous on his own, I would maybe consider him as intelligent. There is more to intelligence than just knowing language, and processing information. If this was true, everyone would be intelligent.
Kevaris Doughty

Claudia Socorro said...

Watson is an amazing project. It is a remarkable computer that beats some of the world's best players of "Jeopardy". I think Watson's ability to understand language and process information could help. But i dnt think it is fair to leave a computer to compete with real humans. It looks like AI is going to be more intelligent that us ourselves?. I also belive he is just a machine which is prepare to answer any kind of question. it is man made so i dont think he cant beat the man's intelligence either. When Watson have the ability to think and undeerstand others feelings then he will be intelligent enough to subexist himself in the rel world.
Claudia Socorro

Unknown said...

I'ts really interesting how far technology is advancing everyday. IBM's DeepQA research program has developed some of the most sophisticated natural language AI known to man. And although Watson lacked a solid, computer-readable database of "facts", or a clear reasoning for some of the questions which the human counterparts had (instead of relying in statistical analysis of texts), it demonstrated it was enough to beat them in jeopardy. As far as intelligence goes, I don't think we're close to calling this computer "intelligent", Watson is able to give a systematic analytical response basing its facts on the internet, but it is not able to comprehend the language as a whole. There has been many programs that can respond to common questions in the past years, they're called bots. Bots ( such as the cleverbot.com), will respond to a statement, developing a list of possible responses due to a prior encounter with another statement. Basically Watson is just a bot that can process more information at the same time due to a dedicated supercomputer.

-King Yactayo

Anonymous said...

I agree with Claudia that Watson is an amazing technological innovation. However, Watson is not “just” a machine. This machine does have a mind, albeit different our own, because it understands the complexity, ambiguity, and imprecision of human language. In the case of artificial intelligence, mental states are functional states. However, my objection to functionalism is that a functional state can have all of the characteristics of a mental state without having its qualitative content. This view of the mind, as written in our philosophy book, is called absent qualia objection. In the jeopardy game, the mental experiences of actual people and Watson are very different even though they are functionally equivalent. The mind of a human being differs because people understand and feel emotion. I acknowledge that it is not fair to have a computer compete with real humans, but these jeopardy games are necessary for studying Watson’s mind. People and robots will always be different on a fundamental level.

-Alberta Kovatcheva-

Unknown said...

Watson is an example of how technology is growind day by day. It's amazing to see how computers can compete, play and learn just like humans do . Evn thought I found this very interesting I believe that it will take a lot more than just realrn from trial and error for a computer to be close to a human. Humans learn from trial and error but also by past events and we can also act base on a six sense that computers dont have or havent be created on a compoter yet.I agree that computer are important in today's sociaty but sont think computers are abla to replace any human.. Behin any computer there is a human. I believe computer can't be smart without an intelligent human brain behind it.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Watson is an example of what is going to happen in time to come. AI is become a reality. Although I do find it unfair for an AI to compete against humans when Watson has a memory of (15 trillion bytes) 13.6424205 Terabytes and a human only has a capacity of only (100 trillion bits) 11.3686838 Terabytes in a lifetime. I find completely unfair because those few 2 trillion Terabytes can make a difference in knowledge. From what I saw from the videos, Watson made mistakes just because of the programing that he had to find correct answers and guesses. Watson is a great piece of work and may someday become a part of normal life. We are now very ahead in what technology has to offer now and in future dates.
-Alexandra Acevedo

Anonymous said...

From what I have seen Watson is a pretty impressive piece of machine, but like others have mentioned I don’t think it is fair that a computer should be put against human beings no matter how smart they might be. Humans are humans at the end of the day they have emotions and reactions and anything can alter an action. Watson in my opinion was made to be put in the situation of being asked questions and come up with an answer, that’s what it was created to do. Watson has no feelings, can show no emotion and doesn’t have reflexes for that matter. Even though Watson wasn’t able to answer some questions and at the end of the round tied with one of the contestants isn’t all that convincing because it was created by humans and there are always flaws in machines because nothing in this world is perfect but I still do not find it fair for a machine to go up against a human.

-- Lorena Riveras

Kira L. Mendoza said...

In rewards to Watson I think it is an incredible advance in technology that a machine can think the way that Watson does. The video obviously shows that Watson is not only smart but that he need to think about the answer and he expresses some type of ambiguity and that Watson does not know the answer to everything. The fact that Watson did not get all the answer clearly has a take on the fat that Watsons knowledge or information is not all an input. What is the most amazing about Watson was that he managed to go up against two of the best jeopardy player and still be on the top. Technology can go and it’s going a long way. I can honestly imagine a world full of Watson’s. Although exciting it is also a very scary thought; the fact that there could be so many smart minds around that truly make me wonder if they will ever overcome the human. The fact that IBM is still working on Watson, and trying to correct and perfect Watson it’s a more ambiguous thought. Excitement because it would be intereting what a perfection of Watson looks , acts and becomes, yet at the same time if the Watson that IBM has already created is good enough to beat two of the greatest jeopardy players at a fair game then what is Watson in the future going to be able to do? Become president? What else is there to generate greater than Watson, emotions? Technology has taken the degree of intelligence in another level. Although Watson was able to think and estimate what would take him on top at the final jeopardy Watson did not cry at his success and did not feel what his creator did. Maybe that is what’s next, inserting emotions and registering external stimuli.

Rene Gonzalez said...

In over 30 years we have had technology respond to our surroundings and often to what we input to it. For example, the GPS. The GPS responds to what we input and it talks back. However, this whole new revolution on Technology with IBM's DeepQA Watson brings up a whole new spectrum in technology. Watson seems to have intelligence based on facts known and the percentage of the threshold in confidence the computer feels. Also, I like the minor touch in how you can tell how Watson is feeling based on how the arrays change color and speed. In the future you may even tell when a computer is blushing or when it would actually be infuriated similar to how the robot in the cartoon show "The Jetsons" was. I am really impressed with how everything is advancing, but I still believe that we shouldn't be confiding on technology too much. -Rene Gonzalez.

Anonymous said...

I believe IBM's Watson is a great leap in the field of AI. Though it does pass the Turing Test for intelligence, it is not truly intelligent, it is the system to which it relies upon that acts as a whole, only to seem intelligent. A functionalist would say that Watson actually has a mind because it has the capacity and ability to process information at high rates as a system; unfortunately, Block’s Chinese Nation counters this. Watson merely uses a system to process information by the gigabytes, somewhat similar to that of a human brain; it can even use language and syntax. The fact that it is programmed to select words based on clues in the sentences does make it evident that Watson can read syntax, it just cannot understand the language and semantics. Watson may be able to process information quickly and with good precision, but it cannot be called intelligent. I don’t think Watson could build arms and legs for himself, if he could, he would be intelligent because he is able to put his functionality and available information to practical and logical use. IBM created another fast computing system- but by my definition, I don’t think it is intelligent. Although it is highly profitable, ambiguous and helpful, it is not match for the thought capacity that humans have through the addition of morals and real feelings. Maybe one day, Watson will be able to build his own limbs, he just won’t know right from wrong, unless: he is programmed to.

Aaron Le Jeune

Charlyne Jean-Charles said...

The watson experiment was amazing it illustrates how innovative technology can be i always new sumthing like watson would come along because technolgy is growing each and everyday but the watson system is actually new because usually they program the computer but this system actually thinks like a human he is very intellegent

Anonymous said...

It is not surprising to hear that something like Watson has been invented. Years of technological advancement has shown what the future could hold. Movies, past and present, have also shown futuristic technology either like Watson or more advanced. What is surprising, is the way that Watson behaves. Seeing the things it does and how it is able to win the contestants, is impressive. These computers are becoming more and more human which gives me conflicting feelings. On the one hand it is great to have this kind of technology. It can be used to benefit society in so many ways but what will happen when we create something as human as we are. Many views of this world are going to be altered. As mentioned before, many movies have depicted the high tech electronics but along with these advancements some have demonstrated the bad side to it. For example, the computers outsmarting the humans and wanting to be on top. It may sound ridiculous, but couldn’t it be possible. I believe if we keep on going in the path we are walking there is a high probability that these events could happen. Now, it may not happen right away, it could take decades or even centuries but it is something to think about. As when television was beginning to rise and broadcasting everywhere, Frank Stanton, president of the Columbia Broadcasting System said, “Not even the sky is the limit.” How far are we willing to go?

~Pamela Picon

Anonymous said...

It’s amazing how far we have come with technology since our parents were our age. We have touch screen cell phones, laptops, even solar powered cars. It was a matter of time before someone came up with something like Watson. As impressive as Watson may be in my opinion he isn’t smart, he was programed to know everything he does. Nobody can take knowledge away from a human being, but you can erase Watson’s memory. Humans learn by experiences and studying but people put what they know into Watsons eight refrigerators of memory. Also, Watson doesn’t understand the language fully; he isn’t able to think for himself either. Watson doesn’t have an opinion on the immigration reform or what’s going on in Egypt at the moment. I also believe it will be impossible for a computer to have feelings no matter what technology is used; the computer would need nerves and emotions which aren’t things that can be programed. Watson will also never know right from wrong, he won’t have instincts or anything like we humans do. He may appear to, but at the end of the day he is just doing what he is programed to do.

-Nicole Encalada

Meeme said...

I think that it is silly underestimate the fast growing of Artificial Intelligence science, its inherent power and future developments. The advance in technologies involving AI is an ongoing one way. It is admirable that humans have already created a computer system that can, at a certain level, make the same assumptions and associations that the human brain does. IBM built this system called Watson. They describe it as "an application of advanced Natural Language Processing, Information Retrieval, Knowledge Representation and Reasoning, and Machine Learning technologies”. Considering that Artificial Intelligence studies and applications is a new subject, its actual stage is impressing. How many people would be able to beat Watson in Jeopardy! today, for example? I could not, and I am not alone in the downfall either. It does not mean that machines are better than humans. It means that some machines can execute some tasks way better and faster than humans can, and the number of machines and diversity of tasks they can perform grows vertiginously each second. Many people work developing more smart and useful machines uniquely to assist us. Like everything that has already been invented, the good or evil use of these things is about to us. I do not think that one day there will be machines able to feel emotions, to act unpredictably or to present genuine psychological behaviors like humans do. The emotional and psychological human component has been proving indispensable to the development of humanity in all aspects. In reality, there is nothing to fear about AI.
Sheila Guisard

Anonymous said...

The fact that Watson, an IBM creation, has that vast amount of knowledge is definitely astounding; a machine is able to compete against humans, two of which are the best Jeopardy players! IBM’s creation of Watson is solid proof of exactly how far technology has come. However, I find it unfair to pin machine against man because all the knowledge that the machine has is inputted into it and it simply answers questions based on the information that it already has, but does it really understand the language and the answers that it is giving? This, I believe, is the underlying question. In addition, Watson has more memory than Ken or Brad and this makes it a challenge for them because Watson can withold more information. This is a great innovative machine that will make way for even better programs to rise for Artificial Intelligence. Until then, however, machines will continue to simply be machines that would not function without the help of a brilliant researcher behind it.
--Chavely Garcia

Anonymous said...

It is fascinating at the rate which computers are increasing their abundance in this world. My take about Watson is that he does have functionalism. Even though it already has information planted in it, it actually has to narrow down the choices of the answer down to the top 3 and it has to pick the one it thinks is the correct one. One has to notice how he also made a few mistakes during his battle against the two jeopardy champions showing that he was thinking about the answers and how it too can make mistakes. It takes the input which is the question and produces an output which is what he is sure of what the answer is. Watson also uses its artificial brain to think of what it wants to risk when it got the daily double. It has a mind specifically for playing Jeopardy, but it cannot do all the other things humans can do. It is restricted only to playing Jeopardy.

Sincerely Yours: Steven Russi ^_^

Anonymous said...

When i see machines or computers being built like this, all i can think of are the movies IRobot and A.I.

Although these machines will help tremendously as well as make our lives relatively easy, they will never possess the power of the human brain. Our minds understand and process all the things we see, hear and taste very differently from what a computer will ever try to. A computer is never going to be able to have feelings nor will it be able to express emotions.

Sure it is very impressive to the things that Watson is able to do, but no computer will be able to come close to humans and their capabilities.

- Martin Iglesia

Karen Olivas said...

As this present century goes on, we rely more and more on Artificial Intelligence to perform tasks in almost every aspect of life. Thanks to the Turing test exposed long ago, many researches have been made; as the result of those researches, we have obtained advanced computed systems, such as Watson created by IBM, to perform an intellectual function by beating two of the most intelligent contestants at Jeopardy. What IBM tents to prove is that there is possibility to create a machine to develop certain function with an average of intelligence compared to ours, human’s intelligence. What I think about this is that there exists that possibility, but with certain limitations, what I meant by this is, that I can conceive a machine being intelligent to perform certain function, but there still exists a lack of humanism, such as, feelings, compassion, sympathy, etc, so I do agree the machine will perfectly perform systematically the function it was created for, but it will fail to transmit all what humans are capable to. Artificial Intelligence’s advances are and will be helpful, but I think this kind of intelligent will never replace or do tasks as good as we do. Even though Watson demonstrated to be intelligent, I think our intelligence stills being unbeatable! –Karen Olivas

Anonymous said...

It is amazing to see how Watson functions. Even though it still has some deficiencies, it is very competent at the time of playing Jeopardy. However what I consider to be the best of Watson is its ability to learn as it plays and how this system can be used in other areas. As the creators of Watson have said there is a great deal of technology involved behind this computer system, whose capacity goes far beyond the Jeopardy game. The design of Watson represents an advance in technology that will impact business and industry dramatically. A.I works based on a functional state of inputs and outputs, it is an incipient representation of the human brain.
Ivonne Almeida

Anonymous said...

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