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 World Author, Predictive Analytics: The Power to Predict Who Will Click, Buy, Lie, or Die

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.

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.

Puff piece for IBM Research written by a professional writer. 4 stars because it covers a wide range of interesting topics. Not 5 because the writer obviously does not have the technical background to evaluate the subject matter and is uniformly uncritical. Interesting to me was the gaping hole of China in the narrative. The administrative area with the largest population and most complex problems is entirely missing from the narrative.

I bought this book mainly to learn about Watson. But this gives much more than that. It gives a complete picture and a mindset which is absolutely required before jumping into learning IBM Watson. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about whats coming up in the next 20 years of the IT industry

Very disappointing. This book reads like a primer on 'computers' for non-technical people circa 1985. It is simplistic and filled with speculative use cases of the most cliched kind - they even have a varient of the 'find an italian restaurant' use case in there. My guess is that this essentially intended as a kind of brochure for IBM services aimed at technically illiterate government procurement people. The only good thing I can say about this book is that the term 'cognitive computing' is a brilliant label for this new world of machine learning, big data and sensors/apps that is just beginning - all that stuff is obviously very real but you won't learn much about it here. I really wish Kelly and Hamm had been able to break through the IBM rah-rah and give us some real insight into how IBM is contributing to this new world. </rant>

I bought this book for getting some information about cognitive computing but found that more about IBM than the technology itself. it talks a lot about the problem domain almost first half of the book is about different scenarios that can get help from this technology . I read a lot about von neuman architecture. I expect a little more technical information like why current architecture is not good enough? what's cognitive computing at all or even a little more on neural networks. telling that this systems works like brain isn't helpful at all. there is company right now in the market producing cognitive processors, i bought one for my thesis and it's great but since there is no book on this I decided to get this book which wasn't that much helpful for me.

Fantastic and fascinating. Great reading for not just techies but for anyone wanting to change the world.

Muy interesante, habla sobre los paradigmas en los que se construyó Watson. Sus inicios como IA... excelente para conocer más sobre IBM

Questo libro da una dettagliata spiegazione su cos'è il cognitive computing e una prospettiva di ampio respiro sulle sue applicazioni, in un momento in cui la collaborazione fra esseri umani e apparecchi cognitivi sta per diventare realtà.

This book left me a bit confused. While it talks about what Watson could do, an informed reader would find it difficult to understand where the author steps away from Watson capabilities and moves into the domain of Big Data. I picked it up to understand more about Watson and how it works but unfortunately did not get much out of it. If you are looking to understand the broad range of possibilities that distributed computing and Big data bring with them this is an OK to read. A major portion of the book talks about what IBM research is doing.

Comprehensive guide, from current situation to future opportunities. Deals with both software and hardware aspects of the technology. Not boring reading.