Future Computers "Will Learn Through Interacting with Us": David Ferrucci

The brains behind IBM Watson supercomputer has predicted that the future machines will keep on constantly improving their understanding of the data that they work with. This will eventually help the devices to provide its users more appropriate and accurate information.

According to IBM fellow, David Ferrucci, the future computers "will learn through interacting with us. They will not necessarily require us to sit down and explicitly program them, but through continuous interaction with humans they will start to understand the kind of data and the kind of computation we need," reports Computer World UK.

Ferrucci also suggested that computers are heading towards the "notion of learning through collaboration and interaction".

The Watson project of IBM was the company's test ground to see how to make machines that can anticipate users' needs in a better way. The company researchers invested four years to develop Watson, the supercomputer specifically designed for competing in "Jeopardy" TV quiz show.

To determine the structure of the Watson machine the team went through 20,000 Jeopardy questions. After much hard work and deliberation the team was able to build the device which won the competition. In fact, the company also believes that the Watson computing models are suitable for a wide range of uses.

IBM is currently investigating the medicine field. IBM is working with researchers and doctors to adapt Watson such that it will be able to offer medical diagnosis and treatment.