Smart Machines: IBM's Watson and the Era of Cognitive Computing (Columbia Business School Publishing)

If you are a technology neophyte, this very nice overview is for you. It presents an almost sociological context for these recent breakthroughs vis-a-vis historical computing developments, thereby introducing a visionary outlook during these very exciting times. Yes, the authors are from IBM and therefore the book has a certain positive bias you would expect from the hawkers of Watson, but these two writers in particular are thought leaders -- and, besides, literature for non-technical readers on the Watson breakthrough is few and far between, so take what you can get! I mean it - read this. Two other such sources are "Final Jeopardy" by Stephen Baker and the chapter I devoted to the matter in my book (see below). I would note one issue with nomenclature: "Watson" was a very specialized system to compete on the TV Quiz show "Jeopardy!", and IBM's use of the same term/name to refer to a broader set of research areas is a bit more of a publicity tactic than a savvy use of buzzwords. However, there are meaningful relationships between the Jeopardy! demonstration (by far the most impressive demonstration of computer question-answering, ever!) and the technical approach IBM is driving for other application areas such as in healthcare. Enjoy!Eric Siegel, Ph.D.Founder, Predictive Analytics WorldAuthor, Predictive Analytics: The Power to Predict Who Will Click, Buy, Lie, or Die

The book provides a view of our future. The view is from the perspective of IBM, and uses WATSON as a frequent example of how far we have come and the possibilities for the future. Current computers store and retrieve data in staggering amounts. Future computers will be able to analyze data as well as store it, and learn from each interaction that it has with its operator. Advances in health care is perhaps the best example. Twenty years ago, aspiring resident doctors carried Blackberry type devices with them containing medical texts. Future doctors can carry with them a few million pages of medical journals and multiple medical text books and produce suggested diagnoses and treatments.The computer system can learn from its mistakes. There are problems with all this, of course. One is the enormous power consumption of the computer servers.The books is fairly short. I wish it were longer, and had more references to non IBM machines and people.

I enjoyed reading this and essentially getting an update on what happened to Watson after wining Jeopardy and a glimpse at some of the internal vision at IBM. The Jeopardy contests were a great PR vehicle for IBM but then news on how to use the Watson technology has been sketchy at best. This book answers what IBM has done since Jeopardy and what its vision of cognitive computing is. Google and Amazon seem to take most of the headlines on new tech, this shows that IBM is still a player and may have just as much to offer in the near future. Personally I hope they succeed at developing an affordable cognitive companion that will help me and others in a variety of daily decisions making tasks in addition to helping my doctor make good diagnostic decisions, one of the projected game changing uses of Watson.Regarding the cost of this book, this is essentially a promotion of IBM and I have no problem with that but a more fair price would be five or six bucks, but still a good read and I do hope IBM is soon bringing out products that are as stimulating and disruptive as what the other leading tech companies now offer

I found the Brynjolfsson and McAfee book of great value because it discussed the threats and opportunities given the acceleration of technology. SMART MACHINES demonstrates how we are on the cusp of great change in computing and it provides readers with an understanding of where we are heading.You do not need a CS degree or background to understand it but if you are already in the game or want to be in it SMART MACHINES is a must read.

Kelly and Hamm do an excellent job of describing IBM's vision for the future of computing, both in terms of architecture and capabilities. The book leverages the popularity of Watson to gain attention, and then diverges into the other ground-breaking efforts underway in the company's research labs and business development sectors. While interesting and thought-provoking, this is more of a broad overview of the emerging technologies rather than a technical reference. Each chapter includes hypothetical scenarios for where the technologies can be applied, which comes across at times as idealistic and an aggressive sales pitch for IBM services.It's a quick read that is great for gaining a basic familiarity with the concepts and applications of cognitive computing, while realistically addressing the challenges and massive investments required to make these capabilities a reality.

My grandson is a computer whiz, and I gave this book to him. I know he finds the topic to his liking, but he has not discussed the book with me yet. I skimmed through it and it amazing what is coming in the future. I liked it that the author elaborated so much on the potential uses of the smart machines.

I have been too heads down in programmable computing, and although I realized things where changing, I had little idea of the scope of change and how far down the road we are. The book explains the new wave of computing - cognitive computing - in easily understandable concepts and clearly articulates the fundamental difference from previous eras of computing.I am left with great sense of excitement at the prospect of reinventing myself to take advantage and shape the era of cognitive computing.