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Re: [ontolog-forum] IBM Watson's Final Jeopardy error"explanation"

To: ontolog-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
From: Krzysztof Janowicz <jano@xxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:24:04 -0500
Message-id: <4D5DE654.8040605@xxxxxxx>
> I came to conclusion that IBM made a strategic decision to suspend all their 
>research in Semantic Web, especially the work on ontology-based approaches. I 
>am not claiming this as a fact, just merely as my own observation. This 
>happened roughly in the same time frame as Watson project gained momentum.    (01)

Interesting observation.    (02)

Best,
Krzysztof    (03)


On 02/17/2011 10:12 PM, Len Yabloko wrote:
>> John
>>
>> On 2/17/2011 4:23 PM, John F. Sowa wrote:
>>> On 2/17/2011 3:55 PM, Patrick Durusau wrote:
>>>> I don't question any of the statements that John has made.
>>>>
>>>> The problem is equating those achievements, which are
>>>> considerable, with intelligence.
>>> That's what I said in my first line:  A quibble about the
>>> name AI is as pointless as complaining about the word 'psyche'
>>> in psychology.  The real issue is to look at the accomplishments.
>>>
>> Err, no, what you were trying to do in your first line is to put the
>> naming issue firmly in the hand of the AI community.
>>
>> Sorry, too old a trick to allow to pass without comment.
>>
>> Looking at "accomplishments," the fine folks at IBM designed a black box
>> system (to outsiders) that answers questions on a game show.
>>
>> Gee, why am I not impressed?
> This comment resonates with me. I don't mean to diminish the accomplishments 
>of the Watson team. After all it is not up to the research community to decide 
>what can be called an accomplishment. From a broader society point of view it 
>is yet another man-vs-machine landmark event that helps to move forward.
>
> What bothers me is that while opening some great possibilities to 
>commercialize the technology (which is necessary step to make a real 
>progress), it may close some other may be greater directions of progress. The 
>story of electrical cars comes to mind. The research community must make it 
>very clear to the rest of us what progress was made by Watson's team. In my 
>opinion it is incremental and tentative, largely made possible by availability 
>of cheep "fuel". Not unlike the progress in auto industry, and should not be 
>dismissed or taken lightly. But would not it be better if electrical cars won 
>the competition?
>
>> Had the team published its NLP processing algorithms, which were no
>> doubt innovative, that would raise all boats.
>>
> IBM Research is certainly not in a business of raising all boats, although 
>they will not miss the opportunity to claim that. I also strongly suspect that 
>those who are in the business of raising everybody's boat, namely the US 
>Government, had contributed some significant resources to help IBM. But IBM 
>was willing to risk a lot of their own resources and reputation to make an 
>important progress, and I applaud Watson's victory.
>
>> But, all we have at this point is the equivalent of the original
>> Mechanical Turk.
>>
> Even if it was the equivalent, it would still be an accomplishment. As long 
>as it does not serve as a proof of validity or superiority of the research. 
>Unfortunately, working last year at IBM Research as a consultant I came to 
>conclusion that IBM made a strategic decision to suspend all their research in 
>Semantic Web, especially the work on ontology-based approaches. I am not 
>claiming this as a fact, just merely as my own observation. This happened 
>roughly in the same time frame as Watson project gained momentum.
>
>
>> Hope you are having a great day!
>>
>> Patrick
>>
>>> John
>>>
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>> -- 
>> Patrick Durusau
>> patrick@xxxxxxxxxxx
>> Chair, V1 - US TAG to JTC 1/SC 34
>> Convener, JTC 1/SC 34/WG 3 (Topic Maps)
>> Editor, OpenDocument Format TC (OASIS), Project Editor ISO/IEC 26300
>> Co-Editor, ISO/IEC 13250-1, 13250-5 (Topic Maps)
>>
>> Another Word For It (blog): http://tm.durusau.net
>> Homepage: http://www.durusau.net
>> Twitter: patrickDurusau
>>
>>
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>
>
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>
>    (04)


-- 
Krzysztof Janowicz    (05)

GeoVISTA Center, Department of Geography, 302 Walker Building
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA    (06)

Email: jano@xxxxxxx
Webpage: http://www.personal.psu.edu/kuj13/
Semantic Web Journal: http://www.semantic-web-journal.net    (07)


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