So chances are you’ve heard about IBM Watson. A super computer that is capable of answering questions posed in natural human language. Check out Wikipedia for the technical details and the Watson video below for an insight.
IBM is now bringing IBM Watson to the mainstream in the form of Watson Analytics. This allows common users to feed data to Watson and then extract insightful analytics based on the data provided.
This is fantastic and is of no doubt a great leap forward in artificial intelligence but remember that computers are nothing but a stream of 1’s and 0’s.
What get’s computer researchers excited, is the fact that the human body is driven by electrical impulses. Computers are driven by electrical impulses, albeit of 1’s and 0’s. So with enough processing power, the search for artificial intelligence forges on.
Computers may be able to replicate human decision making by catering for all the possible rules or options, because they are not infinite, and then using complex formula’s arrive at a decision or an answer. What a computer cannot replicate and never will is emotion.
Decisions based on emotion are not logical, not sensible and has no reason. This is where, no matter how many electrons driven transistors scientists can fit on a silicon wafer or no matter how fast they can turn on or off, can never be replicated by a machine.
Still, this is a very exciting field to be in!