As It Happens

From Jeopardy! to cancer diagnosis, the Watson supercomputer turns from trivia to medicine

It famously schooled Jeopardy! champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter at their own game when it appeared on Jeopardy! in 2011. Now, "Watson", IBM's supercomputer, is turning from trivia to cancer. Last week, it was announced that Watson would be analyzing the genomes of a particularly rare and aggressive form of brain tumour, and suggesting specialized treatment options....
It famously schooled Jeopardy! champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter at their own game when it appeared on Jeopardy! in 2011. Now, "Watson", IBM's supercomputer, is turning from trivia to cancer. Last week, it was announced that Watson would be analyzing the genomes of a particularly rare and aggressive form of brain tumour, and suggesting specialized treatment options.

Steve Harvey is the Global Technology and Analytics Leader for IBM, and has been coordinating Watson's work with the New York Genome Center. He tells Carol that what it takes a team of researchers weeks to complete, Watson can accomplish in "mere minutes."