Watson

16 Jan 2011 - Remember computer HAL from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: a Space Odyssey? Well, the future is here. Watson, a supercomputer which IBM claims is as a profound advance in artificial intelligence, edged out jeopardy! game show champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter on  Thursday in a short practice round ahead of a million-dollar tournament that will be televised next month. It is powered by 10 racks of servers running the Linux operating system. It's not connected t the internet but has digested encyclopedias, dictionaries, books, news, movies scripts and more. John Kelly III, IBM Director of research said the technology could help doctors sift through massive amounts of information to draw conclusions for patient treatment and care.