microrobert
01-14-2013, 04:10 PM
Why IBM's Watson supercomputer can't speak slang
A supposedly sophisticated computer failed to correctly use the risque terms in Urban Dictionary. So is slang the last frontier for artificial intelligence?
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/1/11/1357910580278/IBM-supercomputer-Watson-010.jpg
The IBM supercomputer Watson was victorious on Jeopardy but it has a problem with profanity.
"OMG, that's a bullshit question. Eat one, you doofus." One as-yet-to-be-determined day in the future, computers will talk back to us in this manner. But, thankfully, it would appear that Computers with Attitude are not yet on the near-horizon.
Eric Brown, the IBM researcher charged with training Watson, the supercomputer that famously beat human all-comers in the US quiz show Jeopardy in 2011 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/feb/17/ibm-computer-watson-wins-jeopardy), has provided an interesting insight into just how hard it is to crack the ever-elusive nut of artificial intelligence (AI) (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/artificialintelligenceai). Speaking to Fortune magazine (http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/01/07/ibm-watson-slang/), Brown said that Watson can readily absorb information far beyond the capacity of any human, but where it struggles is understanding our subtlety of language (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/language), particularly the human predilection for slang.
Why IBM's Watson supercomputer can't speak slang | Technology | The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/shortcuts/2013/jan/11/ibm-watson-supercomputer-cant-talk-slang?CMP=twt_fd)
A supposedly sophisticated computer failed to correctly use the risque terms in Urban Dictionary. So is slang the last frontier for artificial intelligence?
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/1/11/1357910580278/IBM-supercomputer-Watson-010.jpg
The IBM supercomputer Watson was victorious on Jeopardy but it has a problem with profanity.
"OMG, that's a bullshit question. Eat one, you doofus." One as-yet-to-be-determined day in the future, computers will talk back to us in this manner. But, thankfully, it would appear that Computers with Attitude are not yet on the near-horizon.
Eric Brown, the IBM researcher charged with training Watson, the supercomputer that famously beat human all-comers in the US quiz show Jeopardy in 2011 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/feb/17/ibm-computer-watson-wins-jeopardy), has provided an interesting insight into just how hard it is to crack the ever-elusive nut of artificial intelligence (AI) (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/artificialintelligenceai). Speaking to Fortune magazine (http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/01/07/ibm-watson-slang/), Brown said that Watson can readily absorb information far beyond the capacity of any human, but where it struggles is understanding our subtlety of language (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/language), particularly the human predilection for slang.
Why IBM's Watson supercomputer can't speak slang | Technology | The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/shortcuts/2013/jan/11/ibm-watson-supercomputer-cant-talk-slang?CMP=twt_fd)