IBM to invest $1 billion to create new business unit for Watson

Reuters ^ | jan 9, 2014 | Nicola Leske

[Vince Ferrer]

IBM (IBM.N) said it will invest more than $1 billion to establish a new business unit for Watson, as the tech giant hopes to get more revenue from the supercomputer system that beat humans on the television quiz show "Jeopardy".

[Vince Ferrer]

This is largely a good thing. Watson can be used for things like medical diagnosis, and it can keep up with current research better than an individual doctor can. However, this does open a new front on the war on jobs. It isn't just the manual labor that can get automated anymore, knowledge jobs, which were supposed to be the wave of the future 20 years ago, are now going to start being taken by software.

Jeopardy! IBM Watson Day 3 (Feb 16, 2011) Part 2/2

[CincyRichieRich]

You didn’t build that...it needs to be used for Muslim outreach and advancement of Muslim math and science.

[Vince Ferrer]

It uses logic.

[MeshugeMikey]

love that highly vaunted mooselim science....

[RightGeek]

I suggest a name change.

[GeronL]

what exactly will this billion bucks be used for?

[driftdiver]

Most of the money will probably be spent in India.

[Grams A]

Today one employee and I processed almost 30 insurance claims, completed requests for another 22 so they could be seen out-patient plus 8 others for admission, verified 2014 benefits for 14 returning patients, paid a pile of bills for several clients and finished two 2013 tax returns and financial reports for two clients, all on-line without creating any paper or talking with anyone.

Just a couple of years ago it would have taken a staff of at least 5, lots of paper, stamps and envelopes and we would never have finished it all in one day.

Not only is modern technology doing away with the obvious clerical and office jobs but we also need to look at the trickle down effect even at what is considered the bottom of the heap. We don’t use envelopes or forms and so don’t even create so much trash. There will even be a marked decrease in the number of people required for trash pick-up or trash trucks.

Heaven help us if we ever lose the internet for a prolonged period of time. Only we old timers remember how to do things manually and we’re not going to be around forever.

[RetiredTexasVet]

Gonna go for Wheel or Price is Right?

[indthkr]

In the future, kids will no longer grow up with the aspiration of being a doctor or a lawyer - they’ll just all grow up to be lawyers....

[Trod Upon]

Who will be left to hire them?

[indthkr]

"Who will be left to hire them?"

I suspect it will be more a case of the most of the lawyers being government workers and politicians, and everybody else either being taxed, or in forced labor camps.