Category: Shock Docs
The answer is: Watson.
Question: Who is Bones?

Like a lot of tee vee viewers, I tuned in to see how badly Watson, the IBM computer, would annihilate his human opponents.

Watson impressed me.

Like a lot of people, I was curious why it was important that Watson be able to understand Alex’s randomness.

As a NYT blogger pointed out, the outcome of the contest was pre-ordained. Watson is faster on the answer button, and faster at retrieving information than humans. Watson doesn’t get stage fright or get embarrassed by Trebek’s condescending response when wrong.

Steady nerves, luck, fast retrieval of the information lodged in your brain. Obviously, Watson does not have to worry about nerves or speed. A more elusive skill is the ability, when you do not actually know the answer, to make quick associations between distantly related bits of trivia, narrow down the possibilities, and make a good guess.

So what is the application? Why is Watson important?

IBM researchers believe that Watson could revolutionize the healthcare industry. From diagnostics to informatics, Watson could quickly search through medical records, clinical documents, and research information for precise answers that would benefit both doctors and patients.

You know those scenes in Bones where the intern regurgitates the case history and offers a diagnosis and Bones picks through all the crap and comes up  with some off-the-wall conclusion that turns out correct?

Watson could do that. Watson may be Bones. Bones may be Watson.

It’s fun to be alive at the beginning of a revolution. Someday Watson may save my life.

These docs agree.