Watson to seek government work

Winning "Jeopardy!" may be just the beginning for International Business Machine Corp.'s Watson computer, which features technological advances that might help the government respond to pandemics and make airplanes safer.

"Every single time I've had a government customer see the computer in action," that person comes up with "a million examples" of how Watson's technology can be adapted to solve the government's data-processing problems, said David McQueeney, vice president of IBM Research.

The machine that won "Jeopardy!" last week had to be able to answer questions in less than three seconds to compete with Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, the show's most successful contestants. After two matches, Watson bested the champs with winnings of $77,147, compared with Jennings' $24,000 and Rutter's $21,600.

Watson's capability would be useful at agencies that handle "vast volumes" of information, said David Shepler, program manager for the IBM Jeopardy! Challenge. For the government, "any improvement in analytics is going to help you in terms of your IT load," he said.

Watson's performance marked an advance for IBM in the field of artificial intelligence. In an e-mail circulated to IBM employees last week that was obtained by Bloomberg News, IBM Chief Executive Officer Sam Palmisano praised what he called an "extraordinary achievement."

"As exciting as Watson's victory is, we didn't invest four years and millions of dollars simply to win a television game," he said. "We did so because this remarkable system represents the new frontier of information science."

Understanding language

That allows humans to work with a computer through "open-question answering," which is more the way normal humans communicate, instead of using "a formal database language," McQueeney said.

IBM has about $3.5 billion in annual federal business, according to industry analyst estimates.

Watson is a long way off from being sold to the government, Shepler said. The machine is not something that can be delivered as-is and would need to be tailored to fit an agency's specific needs. A version of Watson made for the government might reduce the number of software applications or people needed to handle data and make information searches more efficient.

Other markets

IBM is working to further advance Watson, said Lia Davis, a spokeswoman for IBM. The company celebrated its "Jeopardy!" win by announcing a partnership with doctors from Columbia University Medical Center and the University of Maryland School of Medicine to apply the technology to the health care industry.

IBM's plans also include a research agreement with Burlington, Mass.-based Nuance Communications Inc., which makes speech recognition technology.

"We really didn't do this for 'Jeopardy!'" Davis said. When "time is of the essence," such as when a pandemic occurs, a system using the technology would be able to sort through lists of symptoms, doctor's notes and medical journals, then come up with treatment suggestions.

Watson also may help improve air safety, said Steven Cooper, chief information officer for the Air Traffic Organization, a division of the Federal Aviation Administration. Using a version of the machine to double-check a pilot's decisions may "significantly reduce" dangerous situations in the air by giving pilots a way to double-check their instincts.

Although having a "Watson sitting in an airplane" is a long way off, he said, "I think it could be extraordinarily valuable" to combine a pilot's expertise with the technology. "I have to give IBM credit," he said. "This is a big deal."