IBM's Watson Gets A Job !

Beating the pants off of the best humanity has to offer and having Alex Trebeck smarmily inform you “That’s ‘The pen is mightier, Watson,’” is a great way to kick off your sentience, but life’s not all fun and games – even if you’re a Jeopardy-conquering robot. IBM’s finally told Watson to get off its lazy ass and find a job, and it (He?) did. Starting next year, Watson will be suggesting “treatment options and diagnoses” to doctors working with Wellpoint health insurance. Move over, Sherlock; there’s a new Doctor Watson in town.

The Wall Street Journal reports that IBM and Wellpoint are set to announce the deal today, although the terms of the arrangement will not be disclosed. Steven Mills, an IBM senior VP, told the WSJ that the payments “"involve some up front and some over time” and hinted that those payments would grow the longer Wellpoint employed Watson’s services. This is the first time Watson’s being used in a commercial role rather than a research role.
Wellpoint hopes that leveraging Watson’s awesome computing power can lead to improvements in the quality of care provided to patients, which in turn would lead to lower costs for the company. Watson’s first taste of action should come early in 2012, when Wellpoint nurses will be able to turn to him for assistance with complex cases and doctor treatment requests. Wellpoint plans on expanding Waton's role to other services after that.

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